Mayor Pete Buttigieg may have only recently announced his presidential bid, he has already raised big bucks from Hollywood donors.
According to Deadline, James Murdoch donated $2,800 to Buttigieg last month, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, which is the maximum an individual can give to a candidate. ABC Studios TV writer Peter Norwalk donated $2,800. Other major Hollywood contributors include “This is Us” star Mandy Moore, Ken Olin, and Jane Lynch.
In fact, the 2020 Democratic contender raised more than $7 million in the first quarter of the year, his campaign announced on Monday. While he had not officially considered running, Buttigieg reportedly got a major boost in name recognition following CNN’s Democratic Presidential Town Hall at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Following weeks of anticipation, he made it official at a rally on Sunday in South Bend.
“My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete,” Buttigieg said at the rally. “I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana. And I am running for President of the United States.”
Who is Pete Buttigieg?
The 37-year-old politician is a Harvard grad, Rhodes scholar, Navy Intelligence Officer who served as the mayor of the city of South Bend, Indiana since 2012. Buttigieg platform includes support for universal healthcare, decreasing income inequality, pro-environmental policies, conversation and collaboration between the Democratic Party and unions, universal background checks for firearms possession, a federal law that would outlaw job discrimination against LGBT people, and maintaining the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for children of immigrants. Buttigieg also supports reversing Citizens United and stopping gerrymandering.
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