Pete Buttigieg says he is leaning toward running for president in 2028

Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor and U.S. transportation secretary in the Biden administration, is leaning toward running for president in 2028, he said on a podcast Aug. 3.

But the Democrat is far from making any promises, only admitting that he's "more inclined [to run] than not" in a conversation with British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett on his Diary of a CEO podcast.

Buttigieg told Bartlett that whenever he considers running for office, he asks himself if his skills are uniquely needed for the role at the specific moment. It's the same calculus he used when running for South Bend mayor and for president in 2020. Buttigieg lost in the primary to Joe Biden, who went on to be president, after an impressive performance in the Iowa caucuses.

But after having children, Buttigieg said, he has more to weigh.

The comments come just after Buttigieg topped the list of Democratic presidential contenders in an Emerson College poll. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff trailed closed behind in the poll, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance were neck-and-neck on the GOP side.

In 2020, Buttigieg skyrocketed out of relative obscurity to become a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for president. Despite being only 38 at the time and having little political experience beyond governing South Bend, Buttigieg made enough of a name for himself that he was picked for Biden's cabinet. Former presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris even admitted she heavily considered Buttigieg for her own ticket in her book.

While Buttigieg may check a lot of boxes for the average Democratic voter, he's performed poorly in polls of Black voters, a key constituency with which President Donald Trump has made significant inroads.

Buttigieg said he has also grown increasingly concerned with the rising tide of political violence, which he reflected on when revealing that his family was targeted by a false child welfare report in June.

Download the free IndyStar app and turn on notifications to get breaking news and sports alerts.

Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at [email protected] or find her on X at @marissa_meador.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pete Buttigieg says he is leaning toward running for president in 2028