Pete Buttigieg Returns to South Carolina as Democrats Weigh His 2028 Presidential Prospects – Межа. Новини України.

His previous campaign ended in the state, but a new political chapter is bringing fresh questions about trust, strategy and the voters he once struggled to reach.
As noted by CNN
Pete Buttigieg returned to South Carolina, where his previous presidential campaign ended in 2020. After serving in the Joe Biden administration, he came to the state as a private citizen, with a particular focus on engaging with Black voters.
The politician is being linked to a possible presidential bid in 2028. During the 2020 campaign, he failed to gain significant support from South Carolina’s Black electorate, which plays an important role in determining the Democratic Party’s nominee.
In Florence, Buttigieg spoke about redistricting. He said that Republicans are using the process to weaken the political representation of Black Americans.
In Orangeburg, Buttigieg met with students at Claflin University. Topics of discussion included artificial intelligence, reparations for slavery, and young people’s frustration with contemporary politics.
The mid-2020s are not the first time our country has experienced corruption and the use of power for personal gain, intolerance and exclusion, inequality and injustice, undemocratic behavior, or political violence. These earlier struggles did not take place on some distant shore, but in places like Orangeburg.
– Pete Buttigieg
This was Buttigieg’s first trip to South Carolina since leaving the Biden administration. The visit came shortly after the Democratic National Committee’s August 15 decision to preserve the state’s status as the site of the nation’s first presidential primary.
The decision once again underscored the political weight of South Carolina’s large Black electorate. For potential Democratic candidates, support from this group of voters could prove decisive at the start of the presidential cycle.
South Carolina was the final state in Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign. After Joe Biden supported Jim Clyburn, Buttigieg finished fourth in the primary and dropped out of the race the following day.
According to exit polls, support among the state’s Black voters broke down as follows:
Buttigieg’s supporters now point to his work at the Department of Transportation. In June 2023, he and Clyburn announced a $23 million federal grant in Orangeburg. The funds were intended to improve connections between the city’s two historically Black colleges and downtown Orangeburg.
Buttigieg also reaffirmed his support for legislation to establish a commission to study reparations for slavery. At the same time, he emphasized that the federal government can already take practical restorative measures. This includes addressing the consequences of urban planning that allowed highways to divide Black neighborhoods for decades.
Pete Buttigieg in 2020 is not Pete Buttigieg in 2026. He has name recognition; he no longer has to introduce himself. Overall, people like Pete, and that matters in an open race. But there will be questions about his economic agenda, especially for the African American community, as well as about the political infrastructure he has built in our state.
– Marlon Kimpson
Black Democrats in South Carolina acknowledge that Buttigieg’s experience in the federal government has made him a more prominent figure. However, they believe that may not be enough to build broad support in the state.
State Rep. JA Moore stressed that potential candidates cannot simply reach out to Black voters shortly before an election. Earning trust requires consistent work and long-term connections with communities.
Some observers suggest that Buttigieg may also encounter conservative attitudes related to his sexual orientation. During the trip, he spoke about the two multiracial children he adopted with his husband, Chasten. Buttigieg described parenthood as the biggest personal change in his life since 2020.
In Florence, Buttigieg said he is now fully focused on the 2026 elections. He is supporting Democrats in the midterm elections, including Black candidates and politicians running in Republican-leaning districts. His visit to South Carolina showed that the battle for the trust of the state’s key electorate is already gaining importance ahead of a possible 2028 presidential cycle.
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