In a story posted Tuesday night on the news site POLITICO and in a statement released to The Tribune, Buttigieg did not directly confirm his interest in the position but said he has been getting feedback on the direction of the Democratic party.
"Right now the mayor is focused on serving the City of South Bend," Kevin Lawler, a spokesman for Buttigieg said in a statement. "He has been listening and talking to fellow local and state leaders about the future of our country and the Democratic Party at a natural time for these conversations to happen."
POLITICO quoted a "top Indiana Democrat" as saying, "I know that he's taken phone calls from (DNC) members. I think he's doing more listening than talking, primarily. My understanding is he's listening and thinking about it."
And Jason Critchlow, chairman of the St. Joseph County Democratic Party, confirmed that outside individuals in the party are calling on Buttigieg to explore the DNC chair.
"A lot of influential people are reaching out to Mayor Pete Buttigieg," Critchlow said Tuesday night. "All Mayor Pete is doing is giving colleagues his ear."
"The Democratic party on the national level is in the wilderness," Critchlow said. "We are doing fine on the local level, but nationally, we are in the wilderness. We do not know which direction we are going to go, and it makes perfect sense for people from across the country to look at people like Mayor Pete."
Buttigieg is in his second term as mayor of South Bend. He has received plenty of national media attention in recent months and is often mentioned as an up-and-coming star in the Democratic Party.
Earlier his year, a New York Times columnist described Buttigieg as the "perfect Democratic candidate," in a column headlined "The first gay president?"
Two years ago, the Washington Post called him "The most interesting mayor you've never heard of." GovFresh.com named him "Mayor of the Year" for 2013. And New York Magazine included Buttigieg among a list of 10 young Democrats who could be the "next Obama."
In an interview with The Tribune this summer, Buttigieg said the national attention helped shed a positive light on the city's progress.
"Part of my job as mayor is to go out and sell the city," he said. "And it turns out what that means sometimes is managing this kind of attention, and trying to make sure it leads to more eyes on what we're doing as a community, and especially as a community that's in transformation."
He also said at the time that he had "no grand plan" for his political future.
"As I've often said when asked about this: What I do know is if I do a good job as mayor, then the rest will take care of itself," he said. "And if can't do a good job as mayor, then the future is going to be tough no matter what."
The field for the DNC chairmanship has several people who have reported interest in seeking the post. The list includes Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison, and New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley.
Former U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer was the most recent local Democrat to run for chair of the Democratic National Committee, but he eventually lost to Howard Dean.
(c)2016 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.)
