San Jose Mayor Liccardo Endorses Bloomberg For President

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo on Monday offered a 2020 endorsement for presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, according to Bloomberg's campaign.

"Mayors don't have the luxury of hyperpartisan tongue-wagging, they have to solve problems and get things done," Liccardo said in a statement Monday. "I'm supporting Mike Bloomberg because as the mayor of the nation's largest, most diverse, and most complex city, Mike solved problems - to reduce poverty, expand jobs, cut gun violence, improve public health, and build affordable housing."

Bloomberg, a former New York mayor who throughout his political career has switched parties from Democrat to Republican to Independent to Republican again before switching again to a Democrat, faces 14 other Democratic nominees vying for the nation's highest executive office.

Liccardo added that a Bloomberg presidency means the former New York mayor will "bring his courageous, innovative, and pragmatic leadership to our nation's great challenges, to do what's right and make tough decisions regardless of what he might hear from the powerful, the pundits, or the polls."

Six of Bloomberg's competitors are set to take the stage Dec. 19 for the next Democratic presidential debate prior to the Nov. 3, 2020 election.

"Under Mayor (Liccardo's) leadership, the city of San Jose has spearheaded bold solutions to critical issues, from climate change to economic development," Bloomberg tweeted Monday. "I'm glad Mayor Liccardo is joining my team as a California campaign co-chair."

Presidential hopefuls Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren will debate each other next week for the sixth of 12 nationally televised debates.