Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg finished ahead of two well-known Democratic presidential candidates in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary even though his name wasn't even on the ballot.
The Democratic hopeful, who is advertising heavily in New Hampshire, decided to skip the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary. But that didn't stop voters from writing in his name.
On the Democratic side, he received 4,777 write-ins, which is more votes than Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado (984) or Deval Patrick (1,266), the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts. Both Bennet and Patrick dropped out of the presidential race after their poor showings on Tuesday.
Bloomberg received another 801 votes from Republican voters in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
He also won the vote in tiny Dixville Notch, receiving three write-in votes to one apiece for Democrats Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
PHOTOS: Scenes from the NH Primary
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Bloomberg decided not to compete in the first four early voting states, including New Hampshire, choosing instead to focus on a Super Tuesday strategy.
However, his campaign announced the day after Tuesday's primary that he is opening a new office in Concord, New Hampshire, and hiring staffers as part of his general election campaign.
GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the former governor of Massachusetts, also received some write-in support in Tuesday's primary, with 502 votes from Republican voters and another seven from Democrats.
