Pete Buttigieg is looking to get the upper hand on Joe Biden by rejecting lobbyist money

(Image credit: Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

published 26 April 2019

Pete Buttigieg is doing what every other leading 2020 Democrat already did.

In a Friday email to supporters, Buttigieg's campaign manager announced the contender would stop accepting "any money from lobbyists" and would return $30,250 he'd already gotten from 39 registered lobbyists. All the other top tier Democratic candidates — namely Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), as well as Beto O'Rourke — had already sworn off lobbyist cash long ago.

The move comes a day after former Vice President Joe Biden entered the race and promptly said he wouldn't accept money from lobbyists and corporate PACs. Still, on Thursday night, Biden held a fundraiser full of lobbyists and Republican donors at the home of a Comcast executive who manages the company's lobbying. A few lower level candidates, including former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and current Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, are still open to lobbyist money.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.