Is Democratic Candidate Michael Bloomberg Courting Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto's Support?
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto are hardly strangers.
Bloomberg was warmly greeted by Pittsburgh's mayor a year ago when the former mayor came to support Moms Demand Action on gun violence.
Bloomberg tweeted a picture, saying it was great to see Peduto again.
Now, after naming former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter as his national campaign chair, Bloomberg seems to be courting Peduto's support for the presidency.
"Naming Nutter and then obviously maybe pursuing the endorsement of Mayor Bill Peduto is a huge sign that he is willing to take Pennsylvania seriously, which is something that not a lot of candidates have done so far," Post-Gazette political reporter Julian Routh told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday.
Routh thinks it's smart.
"I think it's part of his entire strategy to skip out on the early primary states, to focus entirely on Pennsylvania," Routh said.
Early Christmas Eve, Peduto acknowledged the courtship on Twitter but posted two must-haves for his support: a moratorium on more petrochemical plants and a multi-billion commitment to renewable energy.
To ALL candidates. Deliver Pittsburgh 2 commitments. A moratorium on all new Petro Chemical Cracking facilities in US until health/environment/economic impacts have been proven. A "US Marshall Plan" to invest 100s of Billions into renewables in regions left behind in new economy! https://t.co/1xe2XFVBDz
— bill peduto (@billpeduto) December 24, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
"I read the tweet as not aligning too much with Mayor Mike Bloomberg," said Routh.
Bloomberg has supported fracking in the past, but he partially underwrote the National Geographic film, "Pittsburgh to Paris," which features Peduto on climate change.
Now Mayor Bloomberg does seem to have a good personal relationship with Mayor Peduto, but whether that translates into political support remains to be seen.
There's still plenty of time for Bloomberg to entice Peduto to his camp.
The Pennsylvania primary is not until April 28.
WATCH: KDKA's Jon Delano Reports More On Michael Bloomberg's Relationship With Mayor Peduto