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Speaking in Davenport Monday, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed the big question: Why should a 37-year-old mayor from the Midwest be the Democratic nominee for president?

“It makes sense for us to put forward a different kind of voice right now,” Buttigieg said in his stump speech, perched atop a short ladder. “It’s time for something completely different — for someone who comes out of executive leadership, someone who comes from the middle of the country, who understands smaller communities, and who took up arms in the defense of our nation.”

Buttigieg (pronounced BOOT-edge-edge) has been mayor of South Bend, Indiana, since 2012, and is an openly gay veteran who served in Afghanistan. In January, he launched an exploratory committee to run for president.

At Brew in the Village, in the Village of East Davenport, Buttigieg spoke to around 90 Quad-Citians about his Midwestern roots and vision for higher office.

“I’m excited to be in a community that reminds me of the one I’m from,” Buttigieg said. “I’m also from a river community, one that was told it didn’t have much of a future. But we didn’t want to accept that sitting down.”

His hour-long meet-and-greet was the first stop on a day-long Iowa tour, his second of the year.