The Running Mate
Dating my way through the 2020 Democratic primary
Last summer, I attended a fundraising rally for presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. The event was held at an old warehouse in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn — a vast, dark space packed with hundreds, perhaps thousands of Buttigieg fans. Waiting for the candidate to appear, I sipped a Blue Moon and scanned the venue. Most of the crowd were male. Most appeared to be gay.
Yes, I thought to myself, smiling. I like these odds.
I’d first heard about Buttigieg, then the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in 2018. He and his husband were the subjects of a New York Times “Vows” column I read with admiration and only a little bit of envy. On learning the two men had met on Hinge, a dating app, I’d thrown aside the newspaper and downloaded the app myself.
I was 31, living in New York, and relentlessly, emphatically single. I’d had boyfriends in college and in the years following, but my late twenties had been a wasteland. I’d tried Tinder. I’d tried setups. Nothing had worked.
It was at an Elizabeth Warren event following many depressing Hinge dates later that I’d had an idea: I would go to campaign functions with the explicit purpose of meeting eligible young Democrats. Debate parties would be my mixers. Fundraising events would be my…
