If you’ve been reading the coverage of the DNC Chair race, it would be easy to think that it’s all about the past — who dines with the most big shots at Washington salon dinners, who chose the “right” faction in our Party’s 2016 loss. None of that has anything to do with rebuilding our Party now.

The DNC Chair race is not about the past. It’s not about Washington insiders or the moneyed status quo. It’s about our future.

That’s why I’m supporting Mayor Pete Buttigieg — because our Party needs new leadership and a fresh start.

Our Party is at its best when we are the Party of the future.

The only good news emerging from Trump’s electoral college victory is that more and more good people today want to run for office than ever before. Many of these patriotic women and men are millennials. They are not only the largest voting bloc by age, but also more diverse by race and more inclusive by nature than their parents and grandparents. They are the core of the resistance to Trumpism. They were on the front lines with me and my own family at the Women’s March in Washington and other cities. It is important to note that Pete was the only DNC Chair candidate to attend the Women’s March.

The Democratic Party of the past became very good at telling millennials to wait their turn. But the future cannot wait. We must call forward the goodness in the hearts of young Americans if we are going to save our country and overcome the darkness of Trumpism. And that is one very important reason we should pick a millennial like Pete to run the DNC.

Our Party has — for too long — ignored critical state and local elections. While we pretended that Party no longer matters, Republicans racked up unprecedented victories in statehouses and governors’ mansions all across the country. We Democrats abandoned our “50-State Plan,” and we have paid the price for not acting like a national party. We can’t afford to become a coastal party. We can’t pretend that state and local races don’t matter — they do. We must compete in even the reddest of districts.

Mayors are on the front lines, they get things done. They see the whole picture, not just pieces of it. If we’re serious about an inclusive 50 State strategy, we should pick a two-term Mayor from a red state like Pete to run the DNC.

Finally, our Party is the Party of values — American values. Mayor Pete’s service to others has always been rooted in the values that unite us — freedom, fairness, families, and the future. He understands our economy is not money, it is people — all of our people. That we must always connect our values and our political choices to the lived experiences of real people.

If we learned one thing from 2016, it’s that people have lost their faith in the future and their faith that their children’s lives will be better than their own. We need to reinvigorate people’s belief that the Democratic Party can improve their lives. And we need a leader who will speak with clarity to the hopes and aspirations of every family in cities and small towns all across our country.

I know many of the other candidates for DNC Chair in this race. While they are all good people, this election is about who can best lead the Democratic Party forward in these times. Mayor Pete has the vision and experience that we need — especially right now. That is why I’m urging you to Pick Pete for DNC Chair.