SOUTH BEND, Ind.– The title Pete Buttigieg is making its rounds in political circles as individuals query who will run with Vice President Kamala Harris if she certainly will get the presidential nomination from the Democratic social gathering.
Buttigieg serves on President Joe Biden’s cupboard as Secretary of Transportation. He is what’s referred to as a surrogate for Biden; he was a significant a part of his reelection marketing campaign.
After Biden dropped out of the presidential contest, Buttigieg was fast with a response thanking Biden for his service and placing the nation first.
He was additionally fast to endorse Harris, releasing the next assertion:
“Joe Biden has earned his place among the many greatest and most consequential presidents in our historical past. People are significantly better off due to his management and accomplishments. He all the time places our nation first, as he demonstrated in the present day, and I do know he’ll proceed to take action for the remainder of his time period.
Kamala Harris is now the appropriate particular person to take up the torch, defeat Donald Trump, and succeed Joe Biden as President. I’ve seen her extraordinary management firsthand, working carefully together with her throughout the 2020 marketing campaign after which within the traditionally efficient Biden-Harris administration. I’ll do all that I can to assist her win this election to guide America ahead as our subsequent President.”
Widespread Council Member Troy Warner met Buttigieg within the late 2000s in South Bend’s Democratic social gathering scene.
“I bear in mind again then, you understand, individuals would meet Pete and so they had been like, ‘wow, this younger man is clever, he is nicely spoken, he has ardour and compassion for individuals,'” Warner stated.
He was solely in his late 20s on the time.
“You’d all the time hear a whole lot of comparisons between him and Barack Obama,” Warner stated.
A South Bend native, he first ran for state treasurer in 2010 and misplaced, however the very subsequent 12 months ran for mayor of South Bend and received.
“He was very fashionable when he was mayor, he had a giant following,” stated Diana Hess, St. Joseph County Democratic Celebration chair.
“We knew, then, that Pete was going locations past simply Mayor of South Bend,” Warner stated.
So it was no shock, then, when Buttigieg ran for president in 2020.
“The actually cool half was he made South Bend the middle level of his presidential marketing campaign 4 years in the past,” Warner stated.
South Bend Widespread Council President Sharon McBride stated throughout his tenure as mayor, Buttigieg remodeled town, particularly downtown.
“Working with Mayor Pete was an honor,” she stated. “Serving with him on the council, we bought rather a lot achieved within the metropolis, in fact, with the revitalization of South Bend. , they categorised us as a dying metropolis and he rejuvenated it.”
Buttigieg named her nationwide co-chair on his presidential marketing campaign, so she’s thrilled to listen to his title thrown out for a VP choose.
“Effectively, he is very nicely certified and he would positively have my assist, that may be nice,” McBride stated.
Buttigieg finally ended his 2020 presidential marketing campaign and was later appointed by Biden to function Secretary of Transportation.
His political success will not be with out its share of scandal, such because the ousting of South Bend’s first Black police chief. That tried firing got here after Buttigieg cited considerations of a federal investigation going down into non-public police tapes, the place racist and presumably unlawful conversations came about. 13 years later, the tapes have by no means been heard by the general public.
Hess stated she would not know if Buttigieg will get the spot, however says basically, Democrats are able to assist the ticket no matter who it’s in a presidential race in opposition to Donald Trump.
“He is one of the crucial articulate, sensible messengers I believe the social gathering has proper now,” Hess stated. “He is superb. He can go on Fox Information, he can go on MSNBC, he can speak to anybody and I simply assume he is probably the greatest messengers now we have.”
South Bend Mayor James Mueller joined 250 mayors throughout the nation Monday to endorse Kamala Harris, saying she has many nice choices to select from for VP, together with Buttigieg.