Pete Buttigieg, a young Indiana mayor with a budding national profile, announced Wednesday he was forming a presidential exploratory committee, adding his name to a rapidly growing 2020 Democratic field.
“I launched a presidential exploratory committee because it is a season for boldness and it is time to focus on the future. Are you ready to walk away from the politics of the past?” Buttigieg tweeted early Wednesday, along with a video.
I launched a presidential exploratory committee because it is a season for boldness and it is time to focus on the future. Are you ready to walk away from the politics of the past?
Join the team at https://t.co/Xlqn10brgH. pic.twitter.com/K6aeOeVrO7
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 23, 2019
Buttigieg, 37, is the mayor of South Bend, Ind. He was elected in 2011, at the age of 29, making him the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents. He enters the race as a clear underdog against a field of better-known primary rivals.
“The reality is there’s no going back, and there’s no such thing as ‘again’ in the real world,” Buttigieg says in the video, which shows before-and-after footage of South Bend, a Rust Belt city once described as “dying.” – READ MORE