Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has spent the past four years building a whopping eight electric vehicle charging stations. His goal apparently was to build 500,000 by 2030—all for the very low price of $7.5 billion.
That obviously isn’t happening, but apparently he thinks he’ll have better luck filling Michigan’s potholes.
The Biden administration official and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, reportedly is in talks with top Michigan Democrats about running for governor in 2026. It apparently doesn’t matter that Buttigieg’s political resume is littered with embarrassing failures, such as his department’s EV boondoggle, and his failed management of several transportation crises, including the East Palestine train derailment, during which he was on an extended paternity leave, and Hurricane Helene relief. In fact, Buttigieg’s failed 2019 presidential campaign might just be his greatest political success.
It also doesn’t seem to matter to enthused Michigan Democratic donors that Buttigieg has spent a total of four years in the Great Lakes State and just two years as a registered Michigan voter—with most of that time actually having been spent in Washington as a member of President Biden’s cabinet.
What matters to Michigan Democrats is that Buttigieg is a smooth talker. With Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan running as an independent, the other options likely will be Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Buttigieg’s ability to appear competent is actually a massive point in his favor.
But appearances will only get him so far. He still has to demonstrate some actual knowledge of the state, its people, and the governance necessary to help both thrive.
On all three counts, he fails.
Now, I’m not going to argue that gubernatorial candidates have to be verified Michigan sports fans to justify their campaigns. But, like Timotheé Chalamet on College GameDay, you should at least be able to act like one. Even Gov. Gretchen Whitmer puts on a good show by regularly donning her Lions gear, and at least Nessel has mastered the art of the tailgate.
Buttigieg, on the other hand, appears unaware that Michigan’s sports teams—and their fans—are in the midst of a revival. Speaking with auto workers near Detroit last week, Buttigieg was asked who the Lions would be playing that weekend. Buttigieg “couldn’t provide an answer,” according to a report of the interaction.
The awkward moment proved Buttigieg has little connection with the state, beyond spending a few summers in Traverse City, and even less of a connection to its voters.
The policies he’s spent much of his political career advocating prove this point as well. As transportation secretary, he has helped the Biden administration relentlessly push for a total transition to electric vehicles—a transition that is already well on its way to bankrupting Michigan’s auto industry and 20% of the state’s workforce.
His record as a midwestern mayor isn’t much better. In South Bend, Buttigieg oversaw a massive uptick in crime, even as crime rates dropped in other parts of Indiana. His mayoral stint also featured plummeting academic achievement, with the city’s high school graduation rates dropping 11 points below than the state average.
Despite all of this, if Michigan Democrats had to choose a gubernatorial candidate tomorrow, I’d give Buttigieg a 90% shot at the top spot. And that’s because his policy failures are the last thing Democrats care about when they look at his record.
Instead, they care that Buttigieg went to elite schools and won a Rhodes scholarship. They care that he served in the military and worked at a fancy consulting firm. And yes, they care that he’s gay and checks the diversity box.
He is the perfect product of the elites’ system—he says the right things, knows the right people, and is gloriously out of touch with anything and everyone else. And now he’s come to Michigan, expecting the state’s top job from the political machine that built him.
But Michigan isn’t a reward to be handed out to party favorites. If Mayor Pete wants it, he’ll have to earn it just like everyone else.
He can start by watching the Lions kick the Chicago Bears’ asses this Sunday.
Kaylee McGhee White is editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, a Steamboat Institute media fellow, and a columnist for Michigan Enjoyer. Follow her on X @KayleeDMcGhee.
