Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign

Pete Buttigieg — an Afghanistan War veteran, naval reservist, Rhodes scholar, and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana — is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. At 37, he could become the first millennial president as well as the first openly gay president.

Buttigieg, who announced his presidential bid in late January 2019, entered the race as a long-shot candidate largely unknown on the national stage. But a charismatic performance in a CNN town hall and praise by political media figures have made him a surprising standout in a crowded Democratic field.

Redevelopment and infrastructure projects have been staples of Buttigieg’s tenure as mayor. But many Americans still question whether a mayor of a moderately sized city can really make the leap to become president. And where does Buttigieg fit in on the big questions dividing the national Democratic Party, from the rise of socialism to the direction of foreign policy?