Pete Buttigieg is campaigning for Democrats in competitive districts ahead of the midterms, though he is not running this year. The Washington Post reports he has visited nearly three dozen states since leaving the Biden Cabinet, fueling 2028 presidential speculation.
On the campaign trail, Buttigieg has endorsed veterans in Florida, headlined rallies for Arizona candidates and made the Democrats’ case on MS NOW and Fox News. JoAnna Mendoza, a Democrat running for a competitive Arizona House seat, told The Washington Post he is “very relatable” and “smart.” Buttigieg says he has developed a specialty in campaigning in “more purple and red areas,” where his appearances could test whether his appeal extends beyond Democratic audiences. The immediate test is whether his campaigning helps Democrats win competitive seats that will determine control of Congress.
Early polling also puts him among the leading potential contenders for the 2028 Democratic nomination. Buttigieg ran for president in 2019 as South Bend’s mayor, won the most delegates in the Iowa caucuses, then suspended his campaign and endorsed Joe Biden. Biden later appointed him to oversee the Department of Transportation, making Buttigieg the first out gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet post. Asked this month if the U.S. is ready for a gay president, he said, “Of course”; one rally attendee told The Post he feared voters would reject a candidate for being gay.
