Pete Buttigieg ramping up offices, staff in Iowa

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is ramping up his campaign’s presence in Iowa, with plans to increase staffing in the early presidential state to nearly 100 by the end of the first week of September.

Mr. Buttigieg plans to open 20 offices in Iowa in 20 days and have 98 paid staffers on the ground shortly after he had 62 staffers in the state as of mid-August, the Des Moines Register reported Monday.

Mr. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Monday he’s doing some catch-up as he tried to build name recognition at the start of his campaign.

“There’s no question, having gone from total obscurity in the beginning of the year to needing to win in less than six months, that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “We’ve got that sense of urgency, and we’ve got the tools and most importantly the people that we need in order to make that happen.”

Mr. Buttigieg paced the 2020 Democratic presidential field in fundraising in the second quarter by bringing in close to $25 million, but has remained behind top-tier contenders like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in some of the recent public polling on the race.

“We’re entering into a different phase. You know, there was a lot in the beginning about getting known here, but also nationally. A lot about putting together the resources we need in order to win,” he said. “Now we’ve been able to do a lot of that work in the first half of this year. We’re going to spend the second half of this year putting those resources to work on the ground.”