Buttigieg’s Major Pete ends the unlikely US presidential bid

Last updated on May 18th, 2021 at 06:06 am

Pete Buttigieg, who as a relative unknown entered the Democratic presidential race and established himself as the party’s future during an unprecedented rise to the top tier of a crowded field, ended his bid for the White House on Sunday.

Buttigieg, 38, a former two-term mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a war veteran in Afghanistan and the first openly gay candidate to vote for the US presidency

But its early support from those small, predominantly white states in the more diverse states of Nevada and South Carolina did not translate into electoral success.

Buttigieg came in fourth on Saturday in South Carolina, after finishing a distant third in the Nevada caucuses, where he received support from only 3 percent of African-American voters.

The removal of the centrist Democrat from the campaign could benefit former Vice President Joe Biden, a moderate fellow who got a much-needed victory on Saturday and now looks to take traction from liberal front runner Bernie Sanders in the 14-state Super Tuesday nominating contests this week.

Buttigieg had tried to unite Democrats, independents and moderate Republican voters, claiming that his reputation as a Washington outsider could restore a plurality in November’s election to replace Republican President Donald Trump. But he faced persistent questions concerning his ability to win over black voters, a central bloc of Democratic voting.