CEDAR RAPIDS — Following Pete Buttigieg’s four-day bus tour of Iowa and the Polk County Steak Fry, a group of female political activists is launching Women for Pete to support the South Bend, Ind., mayor’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign.

The women are committed to organizing and engaging other women in their communities to caucus for Buttigieg. Women for Pete plans to host house meetings and do statewide organizing calls and monthly phone banks to tap into networks of female leaders across the state ahead of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses.

“I see the candidacy of Pete Buttigieg as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unify the country, rallying around optimism, hope and the coming of a new era,” said Libby Slappey, former staffer for Sens. Dick Clark and John Culver and President Jimmy Carter. She plans to host several house meetings to engage women in the network to caucus for Buttigieg.

Others who have signed up to serve as key leaders of Women for Pete include former Iowa House and Senate member Jean Lloyd-Jones of Iowa City; Linda Langston, a former Linn County supervisor and former chairwoman of the National Democratic County Officials; former Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey; and Terri Hale, a member of the board of directors at One Iowa.

Hale is looking forward to talking to women at house meetings and phone banks “about why I support Pete and how he would help women and the country as a whole.”

As part of the launch, Pete for America is giving Women for Pete members the tools and resources needed to engage women across the state.

The announcement comes on the heels of Buttigieg’s ninth trip to Iowa since the start of July. The visits have demonstrated “undeniable enthusiasm” for Buttigieg, according to the campaign. During his four-day tour across Eastern and Central Iowa, more than 4,500 Iowans turned out to see him speak, including over 1,000 at a stop in Davenport.

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