On April 14 in his home city of South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg formally launched his presidential campaign for 2020.
Buttigieg is the second openly LGBTQ person to run for president, following Republican presidential primary candidate Fred Karger, who ran in 2012.
"My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete," Buttigieg said, to cheers. "I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana—and I am running for President of the United States."
It has been a meteoric rise for Buttigieg, who polled at less than 1 percent just three months ago—but who now finds himself behind only front-runners Joe Biden ( who has not officially declared a presidential run ) and Bernie Sanders.
In a statement sent April 14, he said, "I recognize the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor. It's more than a little bold—at age 37—to seek the highest office in the land.
"But the forces of change in our country today are tectonic. Forces that help to explain what made this current presidency even possible. That's why, this time, it's not just about winning an election—it's about winning an era."
Buttigieg also listed the principles that he said will guide his campaign: freedom, security and democracy.
"Mayor Pete shattered a lavender ceiling once thought unbreakable, becoming the first openly LGBTQ Democratic presidential candidate in American history and our first real shot at the Oval Office," said Mayor Annise Parker, president/CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, in a separate statement. "There is enormous power in an openly gay presidential candidate stumping at town halls in Iowa and speaking to Americans from the presidential debate stage—it changes perceptions of our community and raises the bar for candidates who seek LGBTQ support."
