Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to former transportation secretary and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg saying Democrats should abolish the electoral college and pack the U.S. Supreme Court during an interview with KanekoaTheGreat on social media this week.
"This is fast becoming the moderate position on the left. The true commies want to abolish the US Senate as well," DeSantis wrote.
Buttigieg, who was transportation secretary under President Joe Biden from 2021-2025, clearly disagreed. Known as "Mayor Pete," Buttigieg also served as the mayor of South Bend, Ind. from 2012 to 2020.
"I still can't believe that anybody considers this radical," Buttigieg said. "Like, to me, there's about thinking a person who gets the most votes ought to be the winner."
Buttigieg argued the change would force Democratic presidential candidates to go to Texas, a reliably red state, as well as force Republican presidential candidates to go to New York, a reliably blue state, to win the popular vote. He also asserted the change would give smaller populated states like Alaska and Rhode Island more representation.
The Electoral College, used to elect the president and vice president of the United States, was created in 1787 as part of the U.S. Constitution. The system specifically gives each U.S. state a specific number of electors based on its congressional House and Senate representation for a total of 538 electors (100 Senators, 435 Representatives, 3 for D.C.).
A candidate needs 270 electors to become president. The national popular vote is not a factor.
Buttigieg also argued for abolishing the Supreme Court.
"I would have term limits, more justices, and some process that makes it less partisan of who the justices are," Buttigieg said. "Some different ways to do that, the one I think is most interesting is called the balance bench proposal. We have a mix. The point is it needs to change."
The Supreme Court, then with six justices, was established under the Federal Judiciary Act through the Constitution in 1789. It went to its current 9-person format in 1869.
