Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed Thursday that he will not run for governor or the open Senate seat in Michigan, clearing the way for a potential White House bid in 2028.
“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,” Buttigieg wrote on X Thursday morning. “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.”
A number of allies have noted that the move would put the former 2020 presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor in a stronger position to run for president in the next Democratic primary, as running campaigns in 2026 and 2028 would be challenging.
Buttigieg said recently that he had been “looking” at a Senate campaign, and that he had a meeting with Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the party is working to hold on to the swing state seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Republicans hope to flip the seat after nearly winning the state’s other Senate seat in the last election.
Buttigieg moved to Traverse City, Michigan, along with his husband and children after four years in the Biden cabinet. Those in his inner circle told Politico that the workload of being in the Cabinet, the travel that accompanies such a job, and the idea of starting a campaign soon after, affected the decision not to run for the Senate.
“In the months ahead I will be spending more time engaging both legacy and digital media in the service of a politics of everyday life, rooted in the values of freedom, security, and democracy,” Buttigieg wrote in a post on Substack. “I will be engaging partners, allies, friends and strangers in the service of a more convincing and widespread account of American prosperity than either side has so far offered. And I’ll also be taking advantage of my exit from office to spend much more time offline, in dialogue with people like my neighbors in Michigan and communities like South Bend, Indiana, where I grew up and served as mayor.”
David Axelrod, who helped shepherd former President Barack Obama’s two campaigns for the highest office, said he spoke to Buttigieg on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport November 21, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. He’s reportedly set to announce that he’s not running for the open senate seat in Michigan (Getty Images)
“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,” he added. “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,” said Axelrod.
The former mayor’s decision not to run for the open seat in a state won by President Donald Trump in November reshapes the upcoming race, with State Sen. Mallory McMorrow having told other Democrats in the state that she will run for the office. Rep. Haley Stevens has also made moves towards running for the seat, such as hiring staff.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii spoke to Buttigieg on several occasions as he made his decision.
“He wanted to decide quickly enough to give other folks a chance to mobilize if they wanted to run,” Schatz told Politico. “He handled it responsibly. He’s a rising star in the Democratic Party.”
In a hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary, Buttigieg is only polling behind former vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who’s considering whether she will run for governor of California in 2026.
