By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg left New York Tuesday to campaign nationally for the mid-term elections.
Bloomberg will endorse a string of politicians running in races across the country, including one Democratic Senate candidate, one Republican Senate candidate, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, another Democrat.
The mayor's appearance on the campaign trail comes as his passionate defense of building a mosque near Ground Zero garners national attention. Bloomberg's first stop was a scheduled morning appearance in Philadelphia to endorse Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, who is running for Senate.
"In deciding to throw his support behind Joe, Mayor Bloomberg cited the independent, pragmatic mindset that Joe will bring to solving problems in the Senate — much like he did in the military — and Joe's approach to putting Americans back to work," the campaign said in a statement.
Sestak has also spoken out in support of the mosque.
After Pennsylvania, Bloomberg will be heading to Washington, D.C., spokesman Andrew Brent confirmed.
Bloomberg is expected to appear at D.C.'s new Carmine's restaurant branch to endorse Fenty, the Washington Post reported.
Fenty has joined Bloomberg on many initiatives, including education reform, the paper noted.
After his jaunt to D.C., Bloomberg will return to New York to hold a fundraiser for Delaware Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Castle, the Wall Street Journal reported. Castle is campaigning heavily for the seat once held by now-Vice President Joe Biden.
Steven Cohen, a professor of public management at Columbia University, told the paper that even if Bloomberg has ruled out a presidential run this time around, he is doing his best to remain "a force in national politics."
"Spreading influence around by endorsing people and providing them with resources helps keep him in the public eye and provides him with a certain amount of political currency," Cohen told the Journal.
"I can imagine he wouldn't mind being treasury secretary or something like that."
