Pete Buttigieg ‘swiped right’ to find the love of his life, he tells Sacramento on Valentine’s Day

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg told a Valentine’s Day crowd in Sacramento Friday what drew him to his husband as he courted California voters ahead of the state’s March 3 primary.

Fresh off a strong performance in Iowa and New Hampshire, the former South Bend mayor, 38, maneuvered through a list of a policy ideas popular with California Democrats, from empowering workers in the gig economy to legalizing marijuana. He promised a White House dedicated to criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention.

Realizing those goals, Buttigieg said, requires California voters.

“We are thrilled with the progress of this campaign, but we are only two states in,” Buttigieg told a crowd holding “Pete 2020 signs” that filled about half of Cesar Chavez Plaza. The campaign said nearly 4,000 people attended.

“So much depends on what happens next,” he said, “and so much depends on what happens when the future-oriented, forward-looking, racially diverse, justice-minded state of California has its say.”

Mayor of West Sacramento Christopher Cabaldon joined Buttigieg onstage for a Q&A segment, using the opportunity to mix love and politics.

“What is it about Chasten that made you fall in love with him? Signed, Chasten, for Valentine’s Day,” Cabaldon read from his phone.

Buttigieg said seeing his husband’s eyes and smile on a dating app first got his attention in 2015. The two married in June of 2018.

“So I swiped right. It’s the most millennial thing I’ve done,” he said. He added that he had a pair of baseball tickets in his pocket on their first date over beers “just in case it worked out.”

“I didn’t want it to end,” he said. “I had been actively avoiding love for a very long time and tiptoed out to see what it would be like...and met this extraordinary person. ... I’m biased, but he is going to make an amazing first gentleman for the United States.”

Buttigieg is neck-and-neck with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the delegate count for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The visit was his second trip to the capital city, and his 17th to California, his campaign said. He ended the day at a fundraiser in Turlock, where he mentioned his mother, Anne Montgomery, was born in nearby Modesto. Friday’s dinner raised money for Democratic campaigns within the county. He also talked to donors in the morning in San Francisco and Palo Alto.

Sanders, meanwhile, will be in Richmond at a get-out-the-vote rally Monday. The candidates compete next in Nevada on Saturday and South Carolina on Feb. 29.

Rebecca and Ramon Laboriel, a Fair Oaks couple, said they were excited to hear what Buttigieg would do for the people they work with as disability advocates.

Ramon, 46, said he decided to attend the event to get a better feel for Buttigieg’s politics.

“He does care for black folks,” said Ramon, who identifies as Afro-Latino. “I think so. That’s what it feels like to me.”

Ramon said he was originally an Andrew Yang supporter, though he likes Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and is also considering Sanders.

Rebecca, 45, was more convinced by Buttigieg.

“There’s some concern with Bernie. I mean, he’s older, and he just had a heart attack,” she said.

Cindy Sevilla, 61, who traveled to the rally from Lafayette, said she is considering Buttigieg and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at this point. Sevilla said she’s from a military family and appreciates what she saw as the centrist policies of Buttigieg, a veteran who served as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, Bloomberg doesn’t feel as ethical and moral as Pete,” Sevilla said.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 7:01 PM.