From South Bend to South Carolina, Pete Buttigieg is relying on hometown allies to win over black voters

When Pete Buttigieg visited a fifth-generation African American farm and vineyard in rural South Carolina, the Democratic presidential contender wasn’t the only elected official from South Bend, Indiana, in attendance.

One of the city’s council members, Sharon McBride, was among the nine participants seated on the lawn of a 1940s shotgun farmhouse, and she was the only one who did not speak during the lengthy and cordial conversation. At another roundtable Buttigieg held in North Charleston with low-wage workers, McBride again was seated on the panel and did not say...