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Bloomberg Rules Out 2016 Presidential Run

Billionaire Medford native and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ruled out an independent run for president yesterday, voicing concerns his candidacy would hand the White House to either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

By Chris Cassidy

Billionaire Medford native and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ruled out an independent run for president yesterday, voicing concerns his candidacy would hand the White House to either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

"That is not a risk I can take in good conscience," Bloomberg wrote in an editorial posted on the Bloomberg View website.

A Bloomberg independent run would have injected yet another wild edge of unpredictability into a race in which the Republican front-runner is a reality TV star and the Democratic leader is under FBI investigation.

Bloomberg wrote that his candidacy would lead to a three-way race in which no one would win a majority of electoral votes, sending the contest into the GOP-controlled House, where the Republican front-runner would inevitably be crowned.

But Bloomberg took parting shots even as he ruled out a run.

He called Trump's run "the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people's prejudices and fears."

He also insisted Cruz's "pandering on immigration may lack Trump's rhetorical excess, but it is no less extreme."

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

(c)2016 the Boston Herald

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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