Roughly two weeks before Super Tuesday, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in Richmond looking for support from voters and from many of the lawmakers whose campaigns he helped fund.

The Democratic presidential candidate campaigned last Saturday around the city, stopping first for an afternoon speech before about 900 people at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery before giving the keynote speech at the sold out Blue Common- wealth Gala before a crowd of 1,500 people at Main Street Station in Downtown.

The gala is an annual fund- raiser hosted by the Democratic Party of Virginia.

“This is the event that keeps the lights on,” said Andrew Whitley, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

During both events, Mr. Bloomberg apologized for the controversial stop-and-frisk policy in place when he was mayor. He said the policy dis- proportionately affected young men of color. Stop-and-frisk was used by police to stop, question and search people on the street for weapons and other contraband if the officer believed a person was dangerous or had reasonable suspicion that they committed a crime. The practice has been denounced by various organizations and civil liberties groups as racial profiling because it disproportionately targets people of color.

In 2011, during Mr. Bloomberg’s ninth year as mayor, the New York Police Department stopped morethan 685,000 people under the policy, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

A majority of those searches, 87 percent, were performed on African-American or Latinx people. The NYCLU said that 88 percent of people stopped had done nothing wrong.

“I defended it for too long, I think, because I didn’t understand the unintended pain it caused to young black and brown kids and to their families,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “And for that, I have apologized.”

Mr. Bloomberg pledged that if elected, he’d prioritize dismantling systems of bias and oppression. He did not elaborate on what those systems are or how he would change them.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights advocacy group, protested at both events. VCDL protesters, who are opposed to Mr. Bloomberg’s efforts nationally for tougher gun control policy, entered Hardywood Brewery and called Mr. Bloomberg a fascist while he was speaking. They were removed from the brewery by Bloomberg supporters and staff and resumed their post outside. They did not enter Main Street Station but lined the street outside, where other anti-Bloomberg protesters were gathered.

Anti-Bloomberg sentiment also was visible inside the gala. Jasmine Leeward, a board member of Richmond ForAll, approached the podium while Mr. Bloomberg was speaking and attached a sign stating, “He protects racist systems, will you?”

The sign was quickly taken down, and Ms. Leeward was escorted away from the stage.

Richmond For All is a coalition that fights for housing, education, environmental rights and racial justice.

Following the event, Ms. Leeward explained the sign, saying that Mr. Bloomberg protects racist systems by only offering an apology and “not actually repaying for the harms that were caused by his stop-and-frisk policies.”

“I saw a lot of politicians, both at the city and state level, kind of forgiving or not being truthful and honest about how dangerous he would be as a president,” Ms. Leeward said. “And so I did what I felt like I needed to do, which was to talk to the people who have the power to get him elected and ask them if they support racist systems and protect them, as I feel Mike Bloomberg does.”

After the sign was removed, Mr. Bloomberg told the crowd, “It’s always nice to be welcomed.”

Mr. Bloomberg was the only Democratic candidate for president who appeared at the gala, while six others were represented by sur- rogates. Valerie Biden Owens, the sister and longtime adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden, appeared on his behalf.

Key Virginia Democratic leaders attending the gala included Gov. Ralph S. Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax, Attorney General Mark R. Herring, Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Congresspersons A. Donald McEachin, Abigail Spanberger, Elaine Luria and Jennifer Wexton.

During her remarks, Ms. Filler-Corn recognized Mr. Bloomberg’s support in recent state elections.

“I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg for helping to turn Virginia blue,” she said.

Mr. Bloomberg said winning in Virginia is a key part of his electoral strategy.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group largely funded by Mr. Bloomberg, has spent $3.8 million since 2017 to help usher in Democratic legislators. After the 2019 elections, the Democrats gained a majority in the Virginia General Assembly for the first time since the early 1990s.

Mr. Bloomberg said that defeating President Trump is one of the main reasons he entered the race.

Army veteran Charles Bissett, who is leaning toward voting for Mr. Bloomberg, said that he thinks that the former mayor will have the best chance of implementing Democratic policy. In particular, Mr. Bissett supports how Mr. Bloomberg handled education reform during his mayoral tenure.

Under Mr. Bloomberg’s administration, the graduation rate for high school students went from less than half to nearly two-thirds, according to a 2013 article by The Atlantic. Mr. Bloomberg also said he raised teacher salaries in New York by 43 percent.

Mr. Bloomberg ranks third in an average of national polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to polling data from RealClearPolitics, with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts closely trailing him.

Virginians will have an opportunity to vote in the Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, March 3.