‘Mayor Pete’ coming to Modesto area, in a rare visit among presidential hopefuls
Former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg is coming here next month, in a rare Northern San Joaquin Valley stop along the campaign trail for presidential candidates.
Buttigieg, 38, is among several hopefuls competing to be the Democratic candidate in the November presidential election. He will be the keynote speaker at a Stanislaus County Democratic Party fundraiser Feb. 14 at the Assyrian American Civic Club in Turlock, said Jessica Self, chairwoman of the local Democratic party.
The event is open to the public and tickets are $75 per person, $1,200 for a table of 10 or $2,500 for a table of 10, which includes two passes for people to meet Buttigieg backstage and have their picture taken with him.
Self said the event is not a fundraiser for Buttigieg, and all of the money raised will stay here to support local Democratic candidates.
She said ticket information will be posted Tuesday on the local Democrats Facebook page and website, standems.org. Emails will go out to local Democrats, as well. Self said those interested in the fundraiser also can email her at jessica_self@live.com.
Self said she believes the civic club can seat about 600 people.
She said moving up California’s primary from June to March 3 as part of Super Tuesday in which more than a dozen states will hold primaries has made California more important to presidential candidates.
Self said it also helps that California’s primary results are proportional and not winner take all in the awarding of delegates to Democratic candidates.
Buttigieg and other candidates “have the ability to pick up voters here,” she said. “The Central Valley is a great place for (them) to come” and learn voters’ concerns and priorities. She said the Valley has been neglected too long by national candidates.
Buttigieg campaign Deputy National Press Secretary Marisol Samayoa said because he is from the Midwest, he understands communities that may feel that they have been overlooked, including the Central Valley, and Buttigieg is building a broad-based coalition.
“It just makes sense for someone who is young and represents a new generation to come to a place like California and talk to everyone,” Samayoa said. “... He can speak to people across the political spectrum.”
Samayoa said Buttigieg was in Fresno in June and has visited other California communities that traditionally don’t draw national candidates, including South Gate in Southern California.
Self said she has extended invitations to all of the Democratic presidential candidates and expects that a couple more will stop here before the March 3 primary.
It has been rare for Democratic or Republican presidential candidates to come here, though some have made the visit in recent years.
Democrats have come here in recent years
Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke came to Modesto Junior College to discuss climate change in April 2018. He has since dropped out of the race. During the 2016 Democratic primary, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders held a rally at Modesto Centre Plaza.
Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten, stopped in Modesto in December at a private, invitation-only event at the Central Valley Pride Center as part of a listening tour in underrepresented areas.
Donald Trump appeared at a May 2016 rally in Fresno when he was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and before he defeated Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 presidential election. Trump is campaigning for a second term.
Buttigieg served two terms as mayor of South Bend, Ind., is a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer and a former Rhodes scholar.
“He’s the youngest candidate running, he’s the first openly gay candidate to mount a major campaign for the presidency, and he’s aiming to be the first mayor to go directly from city hall to the White House,” according to a New York Times profile, which states he has built his campaign around generational change.
Self said the Feb. 14 fundraiser also is the local Democrats’ annual awards dinner. She said U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, will be honored as local official of the year.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 2:43 PM.
