(23 Jan 2019) Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tah-juhj), the mayor of South Bend in Indiana, is taking steps toward running for president.
In an announcement obtained by The Associated Press, the Democrat says he's launching an exploratory committee for a 2020 bid.
The 37-year-old is touting his work to revitalise South Bend, a Rust Belt community of 100,000, as he is preparing for an improbable jump from local politics to a presidential campaign.
He's also said Democrats could benefit from a new generation of leaders as they try to unseat President Donald Trump in 2020.
Elected mayor in 2011, Buttigieg was re-elected in 2015 with 80 percent of the vote.
He raised his national profile with an unsuccessful 2017 run for Democratic National Committee chairman.
Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar and navy reserve lieutenant who served in Afghanistan.
He's openly gay and married his husband last year.
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