NEW: Pete Buttigieg Eyeing Run For President In 2028

In a destabilizing move for the Democrats’ 2028 field, former small-town mayor and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gave the clearest indication yet that he intends to run for president.

The signal came in the form of Buttigieg declining to seek Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Gary Peters (D-MI). A person close to Buttigieg’s thinking did not discourage speculation that his eyes are set on a higher prize: a post-Trump White House.

Among his inner circle, there is strong agreement that it would be difficult or impossible to mount serious back-to-back campaigns for the Senate in 2026 and the presidency two years later. Declining the Senate run, sources add, would put Buttigieg in the most advantageous position to mount a formidable campaign against better-known contenders, including possibly former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Buttigieg shot to liberal stardom in 2020 when he launched an audacious presidential campaign after serving for eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a city of 100,000. Leaning into his credentials as a former Navy intelligence officer, Afghanistan veteran, and openly gay elected official, Buttigieg dazzled Democratic voters seeking a fresh voice on the national stage.

Impressive finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary catapulted him for a brief while to the top of the presidential pack, but ultimately Buttigieg ran low on funds and dropped out after finishing fourth in the 2020 South Carolina Democratic primary. He endorsed former President Joe Biden who went on to select Buttigieg as the nation’s transportation secretary.

David Axelrod, who engineered former President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 victory, said Buttigieg will benefit from skipping the Michigan Senate race and keeping his ear low to the ground in Traverse City, where he, his husband, and two children moved after leaving the White House, offering him plenty of time to pick the brains of everyday Americans outside the Washington, D.C. beltway.

“The hardest decision in politics is to pass on a race you have a very good chance to win,” Axelrod told Politico. “Pete was an A-list recruit and would have been a formidable candidate for the Senate had he chosen to run. But had he won in ’26, it would almost certainly have taken him out of the conversation for ’28. This certainly keeps that option open. Beyond that, I have a sense that he wanted to spend more time with his family, and with people in communities like his, where the conversations and concerns are so different than the ones you hear in the echo chamber of Washington.”

The largest shadow looming over the 2028 field is that of Harris, who has all the time in the world to decide her next move. She left the White House in January, reportedly torn between seeking Biden’s old job or pursuing the California governorship in 2026, where she would immediately lead the field. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her 2024 running mate, is reportedly considering a run of his own, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom has maintained a national profile that many believe is intended to boost his credentials and exposure ahead of a presidential run.