Former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced on Thursday he is ruling out running in Michigan’s governor or Senator races in 2026, leaving the path open for a run for the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appears on the CBS show “Face the Nation” on Sunday. (@FaceTheNation / X screen shot)
The ambitious 43-year-old Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 as the mayor of South Bend, moved to blue state Michigan from his native red state Indiana in 2022 during his tenure in the Biden administration, but apparently found his carpetbagging was not well received by voters in a state dominated by Democrats but won by President Trump in presidential elections.
The Hill reporter Julia Manchester reported on Buttigieg’s thinking, “A source familiar with @PeteButtigieg’s thinking tells me that the move not to run for Senate or governor sets him up for the strongest possible position to run in 2028”
A source familiar with @PeteButtigieg’s thinking tells me that the move not to run for Senate or governor sets him up for the strongest possible position to run in 2028
— Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) March 13, 2025
Buttigieg posted his announcement that he was not running on social media:
“I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race. I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values – and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing today’s cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative. While my own plans don’t include running for office in 2026, I remain intensely focused on consolidating, communicating, and supporting a vision for this alternative. The decisions made by elected leaders matter entirely because of how they shape our everyday lives – and the choices made in these years will decide the American people’s access to freedom, security, democracy, and prosperity for the rest of our lifetimes. I wrote more here about my decision and how I view the work required of us all in this moment: https://substack.com/home/post/p-158991933”
I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race.
I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values – and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not…
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 13, 2025
I wrote more here about my decision and how I view the work required of us all in this moment: https://t.co/m8Rx7zYCd3
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 13, 2025
Buttigieg appears to take a sharp dig at the Biden administration while slamming President Trump in his Substack statement: “Today, our country is demonstrably less free, less secure, less democratic – and less prosperous – than it was just ten weeks ago. Yet the answer is not to revert to yesterday’s inadequate status quo. Rather, it is time to show how better future-facing choices about our government and society can make us all freer, safer, more empowered – and more prosperous.” (Bold added.)
Buttigieg is a navy veteran who served in Afghanistan. The openly gay Buttigieg is married to Chasten Buttigieg. The couple are raising two boys they adopted in 2021.
Buttigieg graduated Harvard and earned a degree from Oxford and worked for the consulting firm McKinsey and Company before starting his runs for elective office.
Buttigieg’s term as Transportation secretary is mainly known for his failed response tp the train crash disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, his taking undisclosed months-long paternity leave during a crisis in the summer of 2021 and his heavy focus on DEI.
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