Pete Buttigieg Returns to South Carolina to Court Black Voters Ahead of Potential 2028 Bid

Former U.S. transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg spent a weekend in South Carolina delivering speeches, holding a round-table at Claflin University, and attending an NAACP Freedom Fund dinner. The itinerary—Florence’s Spratt Issues Conference, a student forum in Orangeburg, and a dinner at a historically Black church—was designed to re-introduce himself to Black voters who gave him only 3 % of the vote in the 2020 Democratic primary. Buttigieg highlighted his role in delivering federal infrastructure money to the state and discussed a “reparative” federal approach to historic urban planning that harmed Black neighborhoods. He declined to confirm a 2028 presidential run, saying he is “totally focused on 2026.”

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In the 2020 primary, Buttigieg’s fourth-place finish in South Carolina ended his campaign, a result attributed to weak support among Black voters despite winning the Iowa caucuses. The Democratic National Committee’s August 15 vote to keep South Carolina as the first contest in the 2028 primary underscores the state’s growing influence, as Black voters comprise a majority of the Democratic electorate there.

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• 2020 exit polls: President Joe Biden received 61 % of the Black vote in South Carolina; Buttigieg received 3 %.

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• Federal grant announced in 2023: $23 million to improve connectivity between Orangeburg’s two historically Black colleges.

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• Federal “Railroad Corner” project in Orangeburg: $22.7 million for downtown revitalization.

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Former DNC chair Jaime Harrison emphasized the strategic necessity of Black voter support, stating, “You need to demonstrate that you can win Black voters.” He added that a strong start must be followed by sustained engagement.

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Colleen Condon, a Charleston lawyer and longtime party activist, credited Buttigieg’s eight-year tenure as transportation secretary for demonstrating his ability to work at the federal level.

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• “The mid-2020s does not represent our nation’s first experience with corruption and self-dealing, with bigotry and exclusion, with inequality and injustice, with undemocratic behavior or with political violence,” — Pete Buttigieg

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• “The Pete Buttigieg of 2020 is not the Pete Buttigieg of 2026,” — Marlon Kimpson, former state senator

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• “Secretary Pete has definitely put himself on my radar for 2028 now, for sure,” — Davina Perry, Claflin student

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• August 15 – DNC votes to retain South Carolina as the first primary state for 2028.

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• August 22 – Buttigieg delivers the keynote address at the Spratt Issues Conference in Florence.

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• August 22 – Buttigieg meets students at Claflin University and holds a round-table on AI and reparations.

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• January 22 2028 – South Carolina will open the Democratic presidential primary calendar.

Newsweek

The January 22 2028 primary will test Buttigieg’s renewed outreach to Black voters. Party officials have urged candidates to maintain a continuous presence in the state, noting that “you got to go listen. You got to go all over the place.” Buttigieg’s future campaign decisions remain unannounced, but his South Carolina tour signals a strategic focus on the electorate that proved decisive in 2020.

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