Pete Buttigieg, untethered, acts as Trump counterweight for angry Democrats

Amie ParnesFri, June 5, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

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Pete Buttigieg is everywhere.

Buttigieg, the former Transportation secretary in the Biden administration, has emerged as one of the Democratic Party's most visible messengers ahead of the midterms, traveling to battleground districts, venturing into red states and making a steady stream of television appearances — including on Fox News.

The visibility in recent months appears to be paying off. An Emerson College poll out last week showed Buttigieg leading a hypothetical Democratic presidential field, ahead of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who had previously topped similar surveys.

At a time when Democrats are searching for a counterweight to President Trump, some strategists say he's been able to fill that role.

"Pete does one thing maybe better than anyone right now: He can effectively indict the Trump presidency while still giving Democrats an aspirational vision for the future," said Democratic strategist Steve Schale.

Unlike many potential 2028 contenders, including Newsom and Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Buttigieg isn't tethered to the demands of elected office or reelection.

And in recent weeks, he has traveled to more than a dozen states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And on Friday, The Hill confirmed Buttigieg would be headlining the Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner, formerly known as the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, in Iowa.

The travel and midterm endorsements have presented a major opportunity: He has been able to build a solid Rolodex of contacts ranging from local officials across the country to gubernatorial candidates and congressional candidates, including Josh Turek, the four-time Paralympian who won the Democratic primary in Iowa for a Senate seat.

He has also traveled to red states such as Montana, where he held a town hall on a ballot measure in the state that would ban corporate money in politics.

"It felt like he was one of us," said Jeff Mangan, the founder of the Transparent Election Initiative, who heard Buttigieg do an interview on the issue and invited him to meet with organizers in Montana. "People took away that he's very approachable … and that he's willing to talk and ask people direct issues and learn what their kitchen-table issues are."

"I think, personally, he would make a great candidate," Mangan added. "Regardless of party, I think people want to hear from folks who have a genuine concern about their lives and the issues that concern all Americans."

After he appeared in Montana, Buttigieg traveled to a community center in North Carolina, where he stumped for Ken McCool, who is running for a seat in the state House.

"He goes to places where other Democrats don't go, these places where Democrats lose," McCool said. "He's willing to show up, and it should be a lesson to all Democrats. We can't write people off based on where they live. It's how we shoot ourselves in the foot."

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McCool said it's easy to see why Buttigieg has been rising in the polls for 2028.

"Us Democrats have been looking for 'Who is our counter voice to the Trump administration?' And Pete has become the counter voice because he's going to places where people voted for Trump. To go to people who supported the current president and talk to them, that's how we're going to bring people over."

Buttigieg does face some challenges with key constituencies in the Democratic Party, particularly when it comes to improving his standing with Black voters since his 2020 presidential bid.

An Emerson poll out last year showed it was still a problem for him, with zero percent of Black respondents saying they would support him when asked who they would back for the Democratic nomination in 2028.

Since then, Buttigieg has worked to improve his numbers with that demographic. A Boston Globe poll out in April, for example, showed Buttigieg leading among Massachusetts voters, with support from 16 percent of Black respondents.

Racial and gender politics have weighed heavily on the Democratic Party after their defeats in the White House contests in 2016 and 2024 to President Trump.

Since the 2024 election, Democrats have wondered if they need to nominate a white man in 2028, given the losses by Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Harris.

Some strategists also question whether concerns about electability could still affect Buttigieg, who would be the nation's first openly gay president.

"The fact that he is gay is always going to be an open question," one strategist said in discussing Buttigieg's viability as a national candidate with voters.

But Lis Smith, who served as a senior adviser to Buttigieg during his 2020 presidential bid, said he is gaining traction because when he goes on the stump, he serves as an antidote to the chaos in politics right now.

"He doesn't just talk about what he's against. He's very much about what the Democratic Party can be," Smith said.

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