Democratic Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., declared Wednesday that he wants to be president, and launched an exploratory committee to test his viability as the Democrat who will try to unseat President Trump in 2020.

“I launched a presidential exploratory committee because it is a season for boldness and it is time to focus on the future. Are you ready to walk away from the politics of the past?” Buttigieg announced on Twitter early Wednesday morning.

[Read more: 45 Democrats jostling to challenge Trump in 2020]


Buttigieg, 37, said his age will be an advantage as he considers whether to formally run for the White House.

“I belong to a generation this is stepping forward right now,” Buttigieg said in a video attached to his tweet. “We’re the generation that lived through school shootings, that served in wars after 9/11. And we’re the generation that stands to be the first to make less than our parents, unless we do something different.”

Buttigieg has served as mayor of South Bend since he was elected in 2012, and is entering a Democratic primary that is expected to be crowded.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachussets, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Kamala Harris of California, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and former HUD secretary under former President Barack Obama, Julián Castro of Texas — among other more low-profile Democrats — have also entered the race to take on Trump in 2020.