It’s over! Pete Buttigieg drops out of presidential race

Pete Buttigieg’s husband has praised him, as his spouse’s historic campaign to become the Democratic nominee in the US Presidential election comes to an end.

The openly gay candidate announced on Sunday that it has become clear that he does not have enough support to make it to the White House.

“So we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together,” Buttigieg said. “So tonight, I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency.”

He added that his focus would now be on ensuring that President Trump is booted out of office. “We have a responsibility to concede the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values,” he said.

Ahead of Buttigieg’s announcement that he was leaving the race, his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, praised his partner.

“About a year and a half ago, my husband came home from work and told me, well, he asked me, ‘What do you think about running for president?’ And I laughed. Not at him but at life. Because life gave me some interesting experiences on my way to find Pete,” said Chasten.

“After falling in love with Pete, Pete got me to believe in myself again. And I told Pete to run because I knew there were other kids sitting out there in this country who needed to believe in themselves too.”

While Buttigieg was not ultimately successful in securing the Democratic Party nomination, his campaign was remarkably effective. As the mayor of the city of South Bend, Indiana, he went from being a virtual unknown to a politician with a national and international profile.

The 38-year-old broke new ground an openly gay married candidate and was the first to earn primary delegates for a major party’s presidential nomination, winning the most support in the state of Iowa.

One of the highlights of his campaign was when he was asked for advice on coming out by a nine-year-old supporter at a rally in Denver.

On Twitter, Buttigieg said: “Thank you for inviting me into your homes, sharing your stories, and putting your trust in me. We launched our campaign because Americans are hungry for a new kind of politics that brings us together. “

Buttigieg has not yet announced which Democratic candidate he will support in the lead up to the November election nor what he plans to do in the future. At the very least, his brave campaign will have made a major impact on the lives of young LGBTQ+ people around the world who aspire to make a difference through public office.