South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has officially announced he will run for to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, according to the South Bend Tribune.
The final word from Buttigieg ends weeks of “will he or won’t he” speculation with an announcement on Vimeo.
Pete Buttigieg for DNC from Pete for DNC on Vimeo.
Buttigieg has launched a website for his DNC campign at petefordnc.com. If Buttigieg wins the race for DNC Chair, he will resign as South Bend Mayor. While he’s running for the position, he will remain Mayor of South Bend.
St. Joseph County Dems weigh in on @PeteButtigieg‘s announcement to enter #DNC race. @ABC57News pic.twitter.com/7Jf5dq7T8E
— Taurean Small (@taureansmall) January 5, 2017
Democratic Councilman Oliver Davis says he’ll run for Mayor if Buttigieg wins the DNC Chair position. However, Buttigieg himself isn’t ready to speculate on his replacement.
If @PeteButtigieg wins #DNC chair, he says recommending a successor for #SouthBend mayor right now is “premature” b/c he’s the “underdog.”
— Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) January 5, 2017
In an interview with MSNBC in late December, Buttigieg stated that “I’m looking at it, I’m having a lot of conversations” when asked about his candidacy for the Democratic National Committee Chairman position. However, at the time, he was still not certain. “I’m looking at it, i’m having a lot of conversations,” Buttigieg told host Steve Kornacki.
A report in Politico suggested that Buttigieg was considering running for the post vacated by the embattled Debbie Wasserman Schultz right before the Democratic National Convention this year.
The mayor’s decision comes just ahead of several candidate forums across the country starting late next week.
The forums are scheduled for:
- January 13-14th in Phoenix, AZ
- January 27th- 28th in Houston, TX
- February 3rd-4th in Detroit, MI
- February 10th-11th in Baltimore, MD
