What's next for Pete Buttigieg?

In his own words, here are six times Pete Buttigieg has pondered his future on the campaign trail these last few years.

By Adam Wren and design by Kris Davidson

Now that he’s out of the presidential race, speculation about what Pete Buttigieg will do next is circulating through the ether. In the short term, back in South Bend, he’ll gather with staffers tonight.

In the long term: Will he be interested in a cabinet spot? Could he run for governor in Indiana? Does he want to run for Senate? Will he write another book?

Here are six times the former South Bend Mayor has mused about his future over the last two years. (Editorial note: Unlinked answers are from original interviews).

On whether there’s a cabinet position that interests him:

“Sure, but I don’t think I should name them right now.”

On an Indiana gubernatorial race:

We’ve got our sights set on exactly one office. My goal is not to be holding some office. My goal is to offer what I have to really set the country in a different direction. Indiana needs a lot of changes too, but it’s a very different than what I believe our country needs and what I think I can offer in the presidential race.

On whether he feels a responsibility to help Indiana Democrats back home after his national success:

Yeah. One thing that happened starting a couple of years ago when I began, before things really took off nationally, but when I began to have more of a national presence was it put me in a position to help, for example, encourage great speakers to be part of our St. Joe County dinner and other things for party building. Certainly in the same way when it comes to the Indiana state party. Obviously, I care a lot about the party doing well. I think we've got a lot of great leaders, including some newer emerging leaders in the party and want to make sure I'm doing my part and using my visibility as a way to support my home state party.

On his path to office in Indiana after the 2018 Midterms as a Democrat:

It complicates any path for me in Indiana more than what was already the case.

On whether South Bend will stay home:

I certainly feel like South Bend will always be home. You never know what the future holds. But one of the best things that happened in my life was reconnecting with my hometown when I moved back. In many ways it's proven to be symbolic as well as literal home of the campaign effort too. So we hope obviously that I will be living and working in Washington after the election, but always going to have that relationship with South Bend.

On whether he'd write another book:

Oh yeah, I hope to, I love writing. And yeah, I don't know what I'd write next. I don't think I'm talented enough to do fiction. If I were, I would probably just be a novelist instead, because I think it's one of the highest forms of what somebody can do....I could write a book about any number of things, I guess. Bus tours. I love the idea of just writing up portraits of people that that I've encountered on the trail, or you know, back in South Bend, too. One of my favorite things about the book was that South Bend really became the main character, one of the main characters in the book. I could do a whole book on waste water.