Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York who has been taking steps to run for president as a Democrat, is in Arkansas filing to appear on the ballot.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Bloomberg was filling out the paperwork at the state Capitol on the final day of Arkansas' filing period.
After filing, Bloomberg told reporters doing so “doesn’t mean we’re going to run, but we do that to make sure we’re on the ballot if we do run.”
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He also said he couldn’t give a timeline on when he plans to make a decision regarding a presidential run.
“We’re still exploring what we’re going to do. We had to register today or we couldn’t be on the ballot, so that’s why we came down this morning.”
Bloomberg's candidacy has the potential to upend the Democratic race less than three months before primary voting begins. The businessman initially ruled out a 2020 run, but began to reconsider in recent weeks, citing concerns about the ability of the current crop of contenders to defeat President Donald Trump.
Bloomberg himself has called prominent Democrats to alert them to his likely run, and his staff is scrambling to meet fast-approaching primary filing deadlines.
Bloomberg said the last time he was in Little Rock was to visit the Clinton Presidential Library “five or six years ago.”
He said he spoke to the Clintons about his trip to the state and they told him to “tell everybody hello.”
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. This story was originally published at 10:15 a.m.