Mike Bloomberg would have to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures by this summer to make it onto the ballots in all 50 states — a challenge he could easily overcome, experts say.
The former mayor will be able to use his multibillion-dollar bank account to hire an army of agents to spread out and get the signatures necessary to get into the race.
“That process carries with it both financial and organizational obstacles,” said Joshua Putnam, a political-science professor from the University of Georgia. “The former is something of a low bar for Bloomberg.”
The number of signatures needed varies widely, with Tennessee requiring 275 and California demanding 178,039. In New York, he would need 15,000.
Putnam said that if little-known candidates such as Libertarian Gary Johnson can do it, Bloomberg, who is worth $37.2 billion, can, too.