Michael Bloomberg’s statement at Bloomberg:
In a three-way race, it’s unlikely any candidate would win a majority of electoral votes, and then the power to choose the president would be taken out of the hands of the American people and thrown to Congress. The fact is, even if I were to receive the most popular votes and the most electoral votes, victory would be highly unlikely, because most members of Congress would vote for their party’s nominee. Party loyalists in Congress — not the American people or the Electoral College — would determine the next president.
As the race stands now, with Republicans in charge of both Houses, there is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz. That is not a risk I can take in good conscience.
strongly suggests he does not understand how the U. S. system of electing presidents works. Here’s the Constitution’s meager explanation:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representatives from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice-President.
From Article II< Section 1 of the Constitution.
I seem to recall that 48 states have a winner-take-all rule so we elect presidents by state rather than by district and IIRC a third party candidate hasn’t carried a state since 1912. And he thinks his presence in the race would throw the election into the House? That’s either incredible chutzpah or he doesn’t understand how we elect presidents.
One has to wonder how seriously he’s actually considered running. It’s one thing to not know the details of how the system works in very rare circumstances, but another to be ignorant about something you’ve floated doing.
(BTW/ George Wallace won several states in 1968; the novelty of 1912 was that Teddy beat the Republican encumbrance)
A more coherent excuse would have been that third parties always take votes away from the major party they resemble more closely. He clearly doesn’t want to take votes away from the Democrats so the prudent thing to do is not to run.