File photo: PLYMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE - FEBRUARY 10: Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a Meet Pete campaign event at Plymouth State University February 10, 2020 Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson says she’s endorsing fellow Democrat Pete Buttigieg ahead of the former Indiana Mayor’s visit to the state on Monday.
“I believe in Pete’s vision for our country, and trust him to represent all Americans. This country needs a unifying leader capable of undoing the damage done over the last few years and returning us to a domestic agenda focused on the needs of our citizens,” Wilson tells the Deseret News.
Buttigieg scored major momentum for his campaign after securing a win in the Iowa caucus and leads his party with the most delegates (22) with Sen. Bernie Sanders trailing behind by 1 delegate.
Buttigieg is scheduled to speak at a town hall meeting in Salt Lake at 7 pm on Monday. The campaign has not announced where that town-hall will be held.
The campaign tells the Deseret News they are adding two paid staffers to help work in Utah, and says they also have around 2,000 volunteers across the state.
Mayor Wilson says she thinks that Buttigieg can beat President Donald Trump in November and that his experience as a mayor is something that sets him apart.
“Mayors approach challenges differently than senators do because we are forced to be more practical than ideological,” Wilson says. “We have to work quickly, responsively, and across party lines to deliver results for our constituents, and can’t afford to get bogged down in philosophical squabbles.”
Her father, former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson, also backed Buttigieg.
He says the Democratic Party has a lot of qualified leaders but he backs Buttigieg.
“I believe Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the right candidate for the moment and the candidate best qualified to be our next commander in chief.”