SOUTH BEND, IN—Calling his presidential run a “perfect launchpad” for becoming a leader on a larger scale, Pete Buttigieg told reporters Friday that he was hoping to leverage his rising star status into ultimately becoming the mayor of Evansville, IN. “After the incredible year I’ve had serving not just as the mayor of South Bend, IN, but also as a former presidential candidate in the national spotlight, I’m ready to take up the gauntlet of serving a city that has 10,000 extra people,” said Buttigieg, adding that just because he was only 38 years old, that didn’t mean he wasn’t ready to step up, unseat Lloyd Winnecke, and take his place as mayor in the Evansville City Center Complex. “As a small-town kid from South Bend, who would have thought that one day I’d be walking along Evansville’s historic riverfront, running for mayor of Indiana’s third-most-populous city. To everyone who helped me on this crazy, pie-in-the-sky journey towards ‘Stoplight City,’ thank you. Sometimes, life feels like a dream.” At press time, Buttigieg had been accused by many Evansville residents of merely using his run in their city as a publicity stunt to one day become the mayor of Fort Wayne.