Pete Buttigieg has been able to campaign for Democrats across the country more than many of his potential 2028 rivals this past year. One reason: He doesn't have a job.
- That's by choice. Buttigieg said no when top Democrats urged him to run for governor or the U.S. Senate in Michigan this year.
Why it matters: That decision is a gamble for Buttigieg's presidential ambitions. He's been able to build a national network over the last two years but hasn't added to his relatively thin resume as a former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Joe Biden's transportation secretary.
- Buttigieg, 44, became a national political figure without following the typical path.
- He ran for president in 2020 as a small-town mayor and won the Iowa caucus by offering an optimistic vision and impressing voters with his communication skills — including in hostile environments.
Driving the news: In early 2025, Democratic lawmakers and strategists including New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and former Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow urged Buttigieg — who had moved to Michigan — to run for office in his new state.
- Winning such an office, they argued, would help Buttigieg build his resume for a future White House run and give him a chance to distance himself from the unpopular Biden administration.
- Buttigieg passed, citing both a desire to stay home more with his husband and young twins, and figuring that he could still get his message out without being in the Senate.
- Instead, he set about building a larger national network among Democrats — particularly with Black voters in the South, where he had struggled in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Buttigieg has traveled to 37 states since he left the Biden administration, Politico reported last week.
- Democratic candidates in vital swing districts and states have welcomed him to campaign for them this year while resisting offers from other potential presidential candidates such as former Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
- In Buttigieg, many Democrats see a surrogate who can draw attention and crowds without the degree of negative attention that other prominent Democrats attract.
- Buttigieg also will campaign in key races in the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election. He's scheduled to be in Michigan and Virginia — which happen to hold early contests in the 2028 presidential primary.
Between the lines: Buttigieg has tried to position himself as a candidate of the next generation who also has enough experience in the executive branch to be able to deliver.
- He's betting that the traditional ladder of running for president — becoming a senator, governor, or vice president first — no longer applies, especially after the Trump era.
What they're saying: Buttigieg "knows what no one else on the Democratic side does, which is what it's actually like to run for this office — the pacing, the pressures and imperatives," David Axelrod, a former senior aide to President Obama and an outside adviser to Buttigieg in the past, told Axios.
- "At a time when the party and country will be searching for youth and forward-looking vision, he has the capacity to articulate one in a powerful way," Axelrod added.
- Axelrod said that if Buttigieg runs, "it will be because he feels the timing is right for someone like him, and the big mission is more compelling than the statewide races on which he took a pass."
A Buttigieg spokesperson said that "when Pete decided not to run for office in Michigan, he promised he would still get to work to help candidates everywhere. He's been doing just that."