African American mayor in Iowa endorses Buttigieg

The first black mayor of Waterloo, Iowa, endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg less than a month before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. 

Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said Buttigieg will not ignore communities like the city he serves because the former South Bend, Ind., mayor “comes from one.” 

“Pete is running to bring the same transformative approach he brought to his city to our country — and I’m proud to stand alongside him in that effort,” Hart said in a statement Tuesday. “As our nation moves forward, we cannot continue to ignore communities like ours, and I know that Pete won’t forget places like Waterloo because he comes from one.”

Waterloo is the most racially diverse city in the state, according to The Associated Press. The endorsement could give Buttigieg a boost as he struggles to court black voters, a large portion of the Democratic electorate. 

Black Lives Matter protesters disrupted a Buttigieg campaign event in Iowa on Sunday, chanting “anti-black, anti-poor,” apparently referring to Buttigieg. Days before, about a dozen Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrated at a Buttigieg campaign event in California. 

Speaking to the AP, Hart highlighted Buttigieg’s work serving South Bend. 

“He’s taken an industrial place like South Bend, Indiana, which is kind of similar to the story of Waterloo, Iowa, where a lot of people had given up on that community, and made great strides to turning it around,” Hart told the AP.

“Just like in South Bend and Waterloo, we’re placed in situations where it seems like we’re responsible to fix generations of decline, to fix generational and systemic racism or problems that we’ve had,” he added. 

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) last week became the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Buttigieg. 

Hart’s endorsement comes as polls show a tight race between Buttigieg and three other candidates in Iowa.

A Des Moines Register–CNN poll released last week has Buttigieg at 16 percent, in third place behind Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Former Vice President Joe Biden was in dead heat with the mayor at 15 percent, based on the poll. 

The Iowa caucuses will take place on Feb. 3.