Mayor Michael Bloomberg Pushing For Gay Marriage Campaigns With His Own Money

Helping to level the playing field in favor of civil rights.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is poised to spend $500,000 of his personal fortune on gay marriage campaigns in Maine, Minnesota and Washington state, he said Monday, following up on a major political spending push the billionaire businessman-turned-politician announced last week.

Bloomberg already had established himself as an outspoken, and generous, supporter of same-sex marriage. He unveiled a $250,000 contribution to a Maryland gay marriage effort earlier this month and has backed four New York Republican senators who crossed party lines to vote for legalizing gay marriage in the state last year. Monday’s move deepened Bloomberg’s involvement in the issue outside New York, and it reflected his vow to give at least $10 million by Election Day to moderate candidates and to ballot initiatives supporting gay marriage and other issues around the country.

“Marriage equality is the next big step in America’s long march of freedom,” Bloomberg said in a statement Monday.