This is the third installment in “Battle Tested,” a series analyzing early campaigns of some Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination. Earlier pieces focused on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign for a New York seat in the House in 2006 and Sen. Cory Booker’s 2002 bid for mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

A decade before he seemingly came out of nowhere at age 37 to become a top-tier candidate in the crowded race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Pete Buttigieg stood at a podium in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and told state party leaders he was not going to wait his turn.

“The time for patience is over, and the time for change is now,” he said. “I stand before you now, an impatient young man. Full of ideas and ready for action.”

It was 2010, and Buttigieg, a 27-year-old who looked even younger, had just quit his well-paying consulting job at the prestigious McKinsey & Company to throw himself into the race for Indiana treasurer.

It was a job he had little chance of getting. A Democrat hadn’t held that post since 1979 — three years before Buttigieg was born.