Buttigieg campaign hiring faith engagement director

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg’s campaign is hiring a faith engagement director in an effort to connect the campaign to faith communities across the country. 

The position, which is listed on the campaign website as full-time, is Buttigieg’s latest move to court religious voters. 

It is the latest attempt from the Democratic side to galvanize a religious voting bloc, something Republicans have successfully been able to do for decades.{mosads}  

In fact, evangelical Christians are already gearing up to get behind President Trump in 2020, with the Faith and Freedom Coalition set to spend tens of millions of dollars on registering 1 million Christians in key battleground states.  

While Democratic voters and campaigns have struggled to coalesce around faith, Buttigieg, who is a practicing Episcopalian, has set himself apart, making faith a major part of his campaign platform. 

The South Bend, Ind. mayor, who is openly gay, has used his faith to call for compassion and unity while criticizing the Trump administration. 

Buttigieg said earlier this year that Vice President Pence’s conservative Christian beliefs are used “as an excuse to harm people.” 

He also took aim at Trump last month saying that he “can’t imagine” that God sent him to the White House.