Story highlights Pete Buttigieg is 34, openly gay, a Harvard graduate, a Rhodes Scholar and a Naval officer

Buttigieg called for an end to a race that has often looked like a Clinton-Sanders proxy battle

Washington (CNN) Pete Buttigieg, a rising Midwestern star in his second term as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is entering the race for Democratic National Committee chair, he announced Thursday.

"I don't think that there's any silver bullet to the party's issues, but I do think there's an opportunity, especially with a perspective that comes from state or local government, and from a part of the country where Democrats absolutely should be winning races, and haven't been," he said in an interview with CNN.

Buttigieg joins a contest that has largely divided along the same lines as the party's 2016 primary -- with backers of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supporting Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders rallying behind Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison.

Buttigieg, who is 34 and openly gay, is a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar. He served as a Naval officer in Afghanistan. His only bid for statewide office has been a failed 2010 campaign for Indiana state treasurer.

However, he has won easily in South Bend, a manufacturing-heavy Rust Belt town that is home to Notre Dame University.

Read More