Pete Buttigieg on Thursday debuted a new TV ad in Nevada that shows off his fluent Spanish, appealing to Latino voters for the state’s Feb. 22 caucuses that are the next test in the Democratic presidential race.
In the 30-second spot, Mr. Buttigieg delivers a version of his stump speech in Spanish. He promises to “unify our very polarized country” while a video montage shows him interacting with black and Latino voters.
“I want you to picture the first day after the Donald Trump presidency,” he says in Spanish. “This particular brand of chaos and corruption will be over. But these big issues, from the economy to health care, will not have disappeared.”
Mr. Buttigieg is proficient in at least seven languages, including Norwegian, French, Italian, Arabic and his late father’s native tongue Maltese.
The ad, titled “Primer Día” or “Day One,” is airing statewide in Nevada, said the Buttigieg campaign.
As host to the third round of voting in the Democratic nominating race, Nevada poses new tests for the candidates. They face for the first time an electorate with a large Latino component and a heavy union presence.
Mr. Buttigieg, an openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been ramping up his campaign in Nevada after emerging as a front-runner by scoring big in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.
His campaign doubled its operation in the Battle Born State and now boats 12 offices and more than 100 staff members, including about 80 who are exclusively focused on organizing.
Mr. Buttigieg narrowly edged out Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont to win in Iowa and then placed a close second in New Hampshire.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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