Pete Buttigieg ends presidential campaign

Former+South+Bend%2C+Ind.+Mayor+Pete+Buttigieg+hosted+a+town+hall+Jan.+13+at+the+Memorial+Union.+He+discussed+climate+change+and+the+situation+with+Iran%2C+among+other+issues.

Caitlin Yamada/ Iowa State Daily

Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg hosted a town hall Jan. 13 at the Memorial Union. He discussed climate change and the situation with Iran, among other issues.

Jake Webster

Pete Buttigieg ended his presidential campaign late Sunday afternoon.

“Today is a moment of truth […] the truth is the path has narrowed to a close, for our candidacy, if not for our cause,” Pete Buttigieg said to supporters in Indiana. “We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further.”

The former South Bend, Ind., mayor started his candidacy polling in the low single-digits, rising over the course of the campaign to a contested result showing him with a slight lead over Bernie Sanders in the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses.

Pete Buttigieg ended his campaign after a fourth place finish in the South Carolina primary Saturday, winning zero delegates from the state. In ending his campaign, he pledged to help elect a Democratic presidential nominee.

“Tonight, I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency,” Pete Buttigieg said. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have a new Democratic president come January.”

The former mayor was the first openly gay major presidential candidate, and the first to win delegates to a major party nominating convention. His husband, Chasten Buttigieg, introduced him to speak to supporters as he prepared to end his campaign in Indiana.

“For those of you who know me, you know I’m not usually short with words, but tonight I will be,” Chasten Buttigieg said. “It’s an honor to come home and to bring home the person I love so dearly, so please help me welcome to the stage, my dear husband, the man I love so much, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.”

The couple embraced before Pete Buttigieg spoke.

Several of Pete Buttigieg’s now-former presidential rivals offered words of support after he ended his campaign. A BuzzFeed reporter tweeted that Sanders had praised the former mayor’s candidacy.

”He is the first openly gay candidate for president,” Sanders said “And he did extraordinarily well.”

Amy Klobuchar, who the former mayor had sparred with in multiple presidential debates, called Pete Buttigieg’s campaign “inspiring” in a tweet.

Pete Buttigieg did not make an endorsement of another candidate in his speech to supporters late Sunday.