Who is Pete Buttigieg? Democratic mayor joins 2020 presidential race

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, officially announced his 2020 presidential campaign Sunday at a rally in his home town.

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Update 6:30 p.m. EDT April 14: Buttigieg made the announcement before a standing-room-only crowd at a downtown tech hub that was once a Studebaker car factory.

The 37-year-old mayor touted improvements under his leadership, including a revitalized downtown and decreased unemployment, and said he’ll focus on three major issues in his campaign: security, improving democracy and freedom.

Buttigieg described security as “the idea that security and patriotism belong to one political party needs to end now.”

He said democracy needs to work for everyone.

“No issue we care about, from gun safety to immigration, from climate to education to paid family leave, will be handled well unless our democracy is in better shape.”

And he explained how he’ll focus on freedom.

“Our conservative friends care about freedom, but only make it part of the journey," he said. "They only see ‘freedom from,' freedom from taxes, freedom from regulation … as though government were the only thing that can make you unfree.

“My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete. I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana, and I am running for President of the United States,” Buttigieg said as crowds erupted in applause.

Original story:

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is expected to officially announce his candidacy for president Sunday afternoon, the South Bend Tribune reported.

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Buttigieg, 37, tweeted April 4 after launching an exploratory committee that he had a "special announcement" to make April 14. The two-term Democrat will reveal his plans during a 2 p.m. speech in downtown South Bend, the Tribune reported.  The announcement was originally planned for an outdoor rally but was moved indoors because poor weather was forecast, the Tribune reported.

Buttigieg’s speech will be livestreamed on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the newspaper reported.

Buttigieg was elected mayor of South Bend in 2011, making him the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents, according to The Associated Press. In 2017, he ran for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, but was defeated.

Buttigieg came out as gay in a 2015, writing in a column for the South Bend Tribune while he was running for his second term as the city's mayor.
"We Midwesterners are instinctively private to begin with, and I'm not used to viewing this as anyone else's business," Buttigieg wrote. "But it's clear to me that at a moment like this, being more open about it could do some good. For a local student struggling with her sexuality, it might be helpful for an openly gay mayor to send the message that her community will always have a place for her."

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