U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg may be Democrats’ best hope for replacing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2026, but his comments at a recent union event expose why that could be a problem.

The openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Ind., stopped at a packed union hall outside of Detroit on Monday, when an auto worker tested whether the 2020 presidential candidate has truly embraced the state since moving to his husband Chasten’s hometown of Traverse City two years ago, the Associated Press reports.

“Mayor Pete – Secretary Pete, I apologize,” the auto worker yelled from the crowd. “Now that you’re a Michigander, who do the Lions play on Sunday?”

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Buttigieg had no idea. The correct answer, every other Michigander knows, is the Buffalo Bills.

The Lions, currently ranked first in the NFC North, are going into the game 12-1 on an 11-game winning streak, marking the best start in franchise history. After decades of disappointment, the Lions enter their final four games of the season with a real possibility of making it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever.

The Lions last played for and won the NFL title in 1957, before it was called the Super Bowl, and came one game away from the big game in 2023, when they blew a double digit third quarter lead in the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The fact that Secretary Pete is unaware suggests he may be more focused on Washington, D.C. than the situation in the Great Lakes State, and he suggested as much when questioned about his political future on Monday.

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“I haven’t made any decisions about, big decisions about my future,” Buttigieg told the media.

“And I know that we’ve got six more weeks and we’re going to sprint through the tape,” he said of the waning days of the Biden administration.

Buttigieg has repeatedly offered similar non-answers about a potential gubernatorial bid over the last year, though “three Michigan Democrats who declined to be identified” told The Detroit News they’ve had discussions with the 42-year-old over the last two months about the possibility.

“Six other sources told The Detroit News they were aware of Buttigieg having similar meetings or discussions recently with Michigan Democratic Party stakeholders and donors,” according to the news site. “Some of the sources said they saw the meetings as an indication Buttigieg was seriously looking at the possibility of a gubernatorial run, while others said they believed Buttigieg’s plans might have been altered by the Nov. 5 presidential election.”

Vice President Kamala Harris embarrassing loss to President-elect Donald Trump means Buttigieg has options – for either a run for governor in 2026 or president in 2028 – since Trump will be term limited.

A Harris victory would have led to her presumed nomination for a second term in 2028.

A Mitchell Research & Communications poll in October found Buttigieg with the support of 38% of likely Michigan Democratic voters should he choose to mount a campaign for governor, while Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson garnered 18%, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was at 3%, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson had 2%, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II was also at 2%, and Royal Oak state Sen. Mallory McMorrow was at 1%.

Duggan has since announced plans to ditch the Democratic Party to run for governor as an Independent, a move that will allow him to avoid a potentially crowded party primary.

The announcement prompted scorn from Benson, a former hate crimes investigator for the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center who confirmed last week she’s “certainly considering” plans to oversee her own election to the state’s top post.

“In moments like this, we don’t flee from the party, but we stay and fix it,” Benson told WJBK’s Tim Skubick. “We need to be firefighters, putting out fires, not running away from things we see that may be on fire.”

Benson’s characterization of a Democratic Party as a house on fire comes as she’s making her own moves to raise her profile ahead of the 2026 contest. Benson plans to release a book rehashing the 2020 election next year, and she’s leveraging her office to prime the pump in the coming months.

Just days after Duggan told the media he plans to head “to communities across the state that have been forgotten and sit in neighborhood restaurants and farmhouses and city center to listen to people,” Benson took to X to announce a statewide tour of “Purpose Driven Community Conversations.”

Yet unlike Duggan, who plans to speak with taxpayers, Benson’s campaign is relying on tax dollars that fund her office to launch a statewide tour in mostly urban, Democratic areas of the state to meet with “local leaders … to listen, learn, and hear more about what we all can do better.”

While Benson’s wrote in a post to X announcing the tour the intent is to “meet people where they are, and listen,” she blocked all comments from her constituents.

Regardless, political observers suggest Buttigieg could face an uphill battle in Michigan in a primary that’s expected to include plenty of native Michiganders.

“I don’t think (Buttigieg’s potential campaign for governor) will scare anybody from running,” Michigan State University political scientist Matt Grossmann told The News.

Jason Cabel Roe, a Michigan Republican political consultant, seemed to agree, noting Buttigieg’s expansive vocabulary and “inflated sense of importance” could fall flat in Michigan.

“I don’t think some dude from South Bend parachuting in will be able to dislodge them,” Roe said of the other potential Democratic candidates.