South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg held a press conference Thursday afternoon to reveal he plans to run for the chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Mayor Buttigieg has been the mayor of South Bend since January 2012.

At the press conference, Mayor Buttigieg explained what would be happening over the next few weeks, but said he would remain the mayor of South Bend during while running.

He said over the next few weeks he will attend four regional meetings with members of the Democratic party.

Then in seven weeks, 447 members of the Democratic National Committee will meet and vote on a chair.

Buttigieg said he has tremendous respect for the other candidates and spoke with most of them on Thursday.

He said he was prompted to run for the DNC chair after the last election and feels he would be a good leader of the party to reinforce values like freedom, fairness, families and the future of the country.

If Buttigieg becomes the DNC chair, St. Joseph County Democrats said the party would hold a caucus to select a replacement.

The other people who are running for the DNC chair include:

• Labor Secretary Tom Perez
• Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison
• South Carolina Democratic chairman Jaime Harrison
•  New Hampshire state chairman Ray Buckley
• Sally Boynton Brown, director of the Idaho Democratic party