HAMILTON, Oh. — Hundreds of Cincinnati area Democrats gathered at an amusement park on Sept. 5 to hear Pete Buttigieg sketch out his priorities for the country.
Buttigieg, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, spoke about affordability, gerrymandering and the Brent Spence Bridge at the Labor Day picnic sponsored by the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council.
A crowd clad in campaign t-shirts braved the 87-degree heat, fanning themselves with flyers and Ohio 250 fans, to hear from the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and other Democratic candidates.
"No better way to spend Labor Day weekend than with the unions who brought us the whole idea of a weekend," Buttigieg said, to cheers and applause at Stricker's Grove.
He spoke about
running for office for the first time when he was 27 years old and "no one could say my name” to his time in President Joe Biden's administration.
Buttigieg described the actions of President Donald Trump's administration, such as cuts to food safety officials and the war in Iran and repeatedly said "we can do so much better than that."
Buttigieg mentioned the Brent Spence Bridge project, which he said he checked out earlier in the day.
"You know how important that bridge is to this region and to the economy and to the whole country, and it needed to be fixed for decades, but nobody could make it happen," he said. "Working with leaders like Sherrod Brown and Congressman (Greg) Landsman, and Mayor Aftab, we put $1.6 billion dollars together. We got it done."
Buttigieg said priorities are different for his successor, Trump transportation secretary Sean Duffy, who recently criticized stop-start buttons in cars.
"So if you drive over a pothole on a bridge and it's broken down, paying four bucks a gallon for gas, at least you can do with the old-fashioned key in the ignition," he said.
Landsman, Acton speak at Labor Day picnic
Buttigieg introduced Dr. Amy Acton, who is running for Ohio governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.
Acton, who served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health under Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, described herself as a "lifelong public servant."
"I'm a doctor, I’m not a politician. I’m becoming one right before your eyes," she said.
She praised her husband Eric Acton, a public school tacher, and said they would be the "first union family in the governor’s mansion."
Cincinnati Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, who is facing a tight race for reelection against Republican candidate Eric Conroy, said the No. 1 issue in America is "the extreme concentration of wealth."
He referenced a story from the Bible when Jesus sees merchants in a temple and overturns their tables.
“We need people flipping over tables in America right now,” Landsman said.
Organizers shouted out various Democratic candidates, including Sherrod Brown, who organizers said was unable to attend the picnic this year, and Vanessa Enoch, who is running against U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson.
Regional politics reporter Erin Glynn can be reached at eglynn@enquirer.com, @ee_glynn on X and @eringlynn on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pete Buttigieg talks unions, Brent Spence Bridge at Labor Day picnic
