Out transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is considering whether to run for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat or whether to take a second shot at running for President, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Since Donald Trump’s recent return to the presidency, Buttigieg has lowered his own public profile: He’s not speaking to the press and has posted only a few social media messages criticizing Trump’s policies. However, the AP said he’s speaking with party officials, labor leaders and top strategists about his next political move. His decision could determine the rest of his political career.

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Buttigieg’s interest in Michigan’s Senate seat is widely known. The seat will be available during the 2026 midterm elections following the retirement of Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) at the end of his term. Though Trump won Michigan in 2024, the state is considered a key battleground state, and Buttigieg is already leading a pack of potential candidates in an early poll.

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Buttigieg currently lives in Traverse City, Michigan – the hometown of his husband, author Chasten Buttigieg – after the couple bought a home there for their family in 2022. There, Pete Buttigieg remains well-known and popular. He is considered one of the Democrats’ best communicators; he has a folksy Midwestern charm that seeks to bridge political divides; and he has both a large social media following and national donor network.

He also outperformed Democratic veterans in the 2020 Iowa presidential caucuses. But it’s unlikely that Buttigieg would run for Senate in 2026 just to turn around soon after and begin a campaign for the 2028 presidential elections.

Jason Roe, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the state party, told the AP that he doubts Pete Buttigieg would enter the 2028 presidential race “because if he runs and loses, he could be done.” Roe also said that Traverse City is an “elitist bubble” that “underscores an elitism that was one of the problems in the Democratic Party” for them to win working class white voters in the 2024 elections.

But living in the state could help shore up public support if he decides to run for Senate.

Aaron Wright, president of the local LGBTQ+ group Up North Pride, told the AP that the Buttigiegs are “sacrificing their physical safety for the betterment of their local area, the state and society,” noting that local militia plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) barely 20 minutes away from Traverse City back in 2020.

“I would imagine they’re considering is the physical safety of being where they are, as the people that they are, because people are drinking out of the firehose of misinformation and disinformation,” Wright said. “Malignant groups that want to see people like me suffer.”

Wright’s husband, Trenton Lee, chair of the local Democratic Party, said that Pete Buttigieg’s ability to “articulate issues and then actually work on them” have made him a worthy political opponent, especially since some Republicans may actually agree with his approach to critical issues, even if they take issue with his homosexuality.

Earlier this year, Axios reported that a source “close to Buttigieg” told them, “Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve…. He’s taking a serious look.”

David Axelrod, the former chief strategist of President Barack Obama, called Pete Buttigieg “one of the most talented people in the party,” and told the AP, “He would be a frontline candidate in any race that he ran.”

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