Buttigieg Returns to South Carolina as He Weighs Another White House Run
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg returned to South Carolina this weekend as he considers another presidential bid in 2028, making a deliberate effort to connect with the Black voters who proved decisive in ending his 2020 campaign. The visit, which included stops at a Democratic Party conference, a historically Black university, and an NAACP Freedom Fund dinner, comes as South Carolina prepares to lead the Democratic presidential primary for the second consecutive cycle.
According to AP News, Buttigieg received a markedly warmer reception than six years ago, when a fourth-place finish in the state’s primary effectively ended his first presidential campaign. There was a standing ovation in a Black church in Orangeburg when Buttigieg was credited for helping bring millions of federal dollars to the area for the Railroad Corner redevelopment project as President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary. A second ovation came as he delivered a speech warning of a country in “big trouble” while laying out his vision for what comes next.
“There is no such thing as again in real life. The only way out is through,” Buttigieg told the crowd of more than 200 people at the NAACP Orangeburg Branch’s 31st Annual Freedom Fund Celebration. “If we recognize and embrace a future that is different from the past, we will do better.”
A State Transformed by the 2028 Calendar
The significance of Buttigieg’s trip extends beyond personal redemption. In August, the Democratic National Committee approved a 2028 presidential primary calendar that makes South Carolina the first state to vote on January 22, 2028, followed by Nevada on February 1, as AP News reported. The calendar is designed to give Black and Latino voters and union members an earlier say in the nominating process, with South Carolina’s Black population capable of yielding more than half the state’s Democratic primary electorate.
“You need to demonstrate that you can win Black voters,” said Jaime Harrison, a former Democratic National Committee chair and South Carolina Democratic Party chairman. “If you can’t win Black voters, you can’t be the nominee of our party.”
A Weekend of Engagement
Buttigieg’s itinerary had all the trappings of a potential presidential bid. He raised money Friday in Charleston with Nancy Lacore, a U.S. House candidate trying to flip a Republican-held seat. On Saturday morning, he spoke at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Spratt Issues Conference in Florence before traveling to Claflin University, a historically Black university in Orangeburg, where he met with students.
Davina Perry, a third-year student at Claflin, said she came away from Buttigieg’s visit thinking he would be a “good candidate” if he ran. “Secretary Pete has definitely put himself on my radar for 2028 now, for sure,” Perry said. But, she added, “I do want to see more representation from people who look like me.”
That evening, Buttigieg attended the NAACP dinner at Edisto Fork United Methodist Church Christian Life Center in Orangeburg, a nearly three-quarters Black city with deep roots in the Civil Rights Movement. The crowd included local NAACP leaders, ministers, and elected officials. Buttigieg worked the room, giving hugs and taking photos, as WIS-TV reported.
“He is responsible for the Railroad Corner,” said Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler, referencing a project aimed at revitalizing the city’s downtown that received a $22.7 million federal grant. “Do I need to say any more? We need to stand and welcome the former secretary.”
The Railroad Corner project, which Buttigieg helped secure funding for during his tenure as transportation secretary, includes a pedestrian bridge and multi-modal transit hub to better connect Orangeburg neighborhoods, South Carolina State University, and Claflin University campuses to downtown, as WRDW reported during his 2023 visit to the site with Rep. Jim Clyburn.
No Final Decision Yet
Buttigieg insists he has made no final decision about whether to run for president again. “Right now, I’m totally focused on 2026,” he told reporters Saturday.
But his public signals suggest he is leaning toward a run. In August, Buttigieg said on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast that he is “more inclined than not” to launch a 2028 Democratic campaign, as The Detroit News reported. “I think I’m more inclined than not, but there’s so much we don’t know,” he said. “There’s so much I don’t even know about what’s going to happen this year, let alone … later.”
Buttigieg has cited becoming the father of twins and being the victim of a swatting incident in June 2026 as factors that have made him think twice about the consequences of mounting another campaign. “That’s changed all of my equations,” he said of the incident, which briefly separated him from his 4-year-old sons. “It’s just something that you really sit with and take seriously, which you should.”
He has also ruled out both the Michigan governorship and a Senate run in 2026, leaving the 2028 presidential race as the clearest lane forward. His trip to South Carolina came a week after visiting another early-voting state, Nevada, and follows earlier visits to Iowa, where he won the 2020 caucuses, as The Ames Tribune reported.
A Crowded Field Taking Shape
Buttigieg is hardly alone in making early trips to South Carolina. Other potential 2028 contenders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, have all visited the state as what is expected to be a large Democratic field begins to take shape, as ABC News tracked. Former Vice President Kamala Harris already has deep ties in the state.
Buttigieg has also been building relationships in South Carolina beyond the presidential race. He endorsed Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician running for U.S. Senate in the state, as WIS-TV reported. “As a pediatrician who has spent nearly two decades in children’s hospitals, Annie Andrews knows firsthand how Washington’s failures have hurt South Carolina families,” Buttigieg said in his endorsement.
The former transportation secretary has become a prolific midterm campaigner, endorsing candidates in more than 30 races and boosting his profile with swing state trips, as Pride Source noted. His careful positioning, early-state travel, and sharpened media presence have increasingly pointed toward a second presidential bid.
What to Watch For
South Carolina Democratic leaders say the close, personal engagement with candidates is exactly what they hoped for when they pushed to make the state first. “You got to go listen. You got to go all over the place,” Harrison said. “You have to make meaningful investments. That’s how you win South Carolina.”
Harrison called Buttigieg’s trip this weekend a “good start,” but cautioned that Buttigieg and all the other potential 2028 candidates have a long road ahead to prove themselves to the state’s voters. “It has to be a good start and then you got to continue,” Harrison said. “It can’t just be, ‘Oh, pop in and then I’m going to pop back out.’”
Buttigieg addressed the anxiety facing Black voters directly Saturday night, describing efforts to weaken the Voting Rights Act as the culmination of a “multidecade effort” and warning of a broader push “to demolish African American political power.” As the Democratic primary calendar now begins in a state where Black voters hold outsized influence, how Buttigieg navigates this terrain will be one of the defining questions of the 2028 race.