Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attends a meeting with President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America Cabinet,” in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, May 5, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP file — Evan Vucci
Pete Buttigieg made an appearance on New Hampshire talk radio on Friday, sparking speculation that the Department of Transportation Secretary in President Joe Biden’s administration may be mulling another White House run in 2028.
Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who is considered a potential contender for the next nomination race, has made numerous radio appearances across the country during his four years steering the Transportation Department, including a bunch here in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state.
But with the 2024 election now in the rear-view mirror and President-elect Donald Trump a month away from returning to the White House, the extremely early preseason moves in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary race will soon get underway.
And the appearance by Buttigieg on the statewide morning news-talk radio program “New Hampshire Today” is bound to spark a bit of 2028 speculation.
Asked about plans once his tenure as Transportation Secretary ends on Jan. 20, Buttigieg told host Chris Ryan “the only thing I’m sure is next is a little vacation.”
Buttigieg said he and his husband Chasten “are ready to spend a little time together. I’m ready to be around our three-year-old twins a little more, and I’m determined not to make any life decisions too quickly in the new year.”
“But I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that’s running for office, and maybe that’s not. I’ll take the next few weeks and months to work through that,” Buttigieg shared.
And he emphasized, “I know what I care about. I care about how communities, like the place where I grew up, find a better future. I care about how to make sure technology makes us all better off and not worse off. I care about how the infrastructure issues and opportunities I’ve worked on can develop. I care about public service. I care about our democracy, and I will find ways to work on that, whatever shape that might take.”
Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a longshot when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign.
But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Iowa caucuses before coming in close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden as the former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests, and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.
During his tenure as Transportation Secretary, Buttigieg has made a handful of official visits to New Hampshire, most recently earlier this year. And two years ago, in a political trip, he headlined the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s major autumn fundraising gala.
Asked in the interview if he will return to the Granite State in the near future, he quipped, “I’m sure I’ll turn up before too long.”
