Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles endorses in presidential race
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has become the latest urban leader to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
Lyles’ endorsement came as Bloomberg barnstormed the state with visits Thursday to Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh.
“I support Mike Bloomberg to be our next president because the country needs a candidate in 2020 who cares for people and will work every day to ensure we will have a better tomorrow,” Lyles said in a statement. “That candidate is Mike Bloomberg.”
Lyles’s endorsement came the same day as former Gov. Bev Perdue formally backed the former New York City mayor.
Lyles helped introduce Bloomberg when he opened his Charlotte headquarters in December.
“I am a better mayor because of Mike Bloomberg,” she told a packed crowd. “We’re a better city because of Mike Bloomberg. And I think this country can be a better country because of Mike Bloomberg.”
Bloomberg was in Charlotte in 2018 to announce that the city was a winner of his American Cities Climate Challenge, a designation that has brought the city more than $2 million.
Lyles is the latest in a parade of mayors to back the former New York City leader. The New York Times has reported that the billionaire businessman has benefited from ties to local leaders around the country helped by his philanthropy.
Columbia, S.C., Mayor Stephen Benjamin co-chairs Bloomberg’s national campaign.
Lyles is Bloomberg’s latest Charlotte connection.
Bloomberg hired city council member James Mitchell as state director of his campaign. LaToya Evans, Lyles former campaign spokeswoman, has the same job for Bloomberg’s North Carolina campaign.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 7:14 AM.
