TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In mid-August of 2021, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg took off time for paternity leave to care for his newborn twins. No one really even knew about it until there was a big problem with ports being crowded and products being stuck in shipping containers.

By the time he showed up to work again, there were almost 500,000 containers stuck off the coast of Southern California.

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Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and a Politico article brought his absence to the attention of the public, pointing out that the Secretary was MIA less than a year into the job.

Now it’s been announced that Buttigieg has become a permanent resident of Michigan and will be living in a house in Traverse City. The home that was purchased two years ago will be filled with his two young children and his husband, Chasten, who grew up in Traverse City.

A spokesperson for the Dept. of Transportation said, “Moving to Chasten’s hometown of Traverse City allowed them to be closer to his parents, which became especially important to them after they adopted their twins, often relying on Chasten’s parents for help with child care.”

Residency requirements in Michigan, according to the Michigan 1040 tax form, vaguely say that you are a Michigan resident if Michigan is your permanent home, a place you “intend to return to whoever you go away.”

Michigan News Source reached out to the Secretary’s office about how Buttigieg would balance the demands of his job with a full-time residency in Michigan, but they did not get back to us by print time.

To be fair, Buttigieg’s previous residency was in deep-red Indiana so, for better or worse, it looks like he’s been doing his job while living in the Midwest since the beginning of his new position in the Biden administration.

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With his recent Michigan appearances in places like the Mackinac Policy Conference and today at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport with Attorney General Dana Nessel, it looks like he will be making Michigan an important base of operations for any current and future work.

During Buttigieg’s appearance at the airport, Nessel mentioned she came from the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, the Secretary’s new hometown. She said, “You could not have picked a better state in the union to become a resident of. I certainly hope that you like college football…because we have a lot going on in this state and I know you’re going to love your time here in Michigan…”

She went on to say, “We are so thrilled to have you as a Michigander or a Michiganian depending on who you speak to about that” and cited non-existent polling data that the term Michigander was probably more popular.

Speculation seems to be in the air with Politico, Yahoo and many others about whether this move is about Buttigieg’s future political ambitions in the state.

When asked about relocating to Michigan and if he’s considering a role in Michigan government, Buttigieg said, “We’re here because of family. When I married Chasten, I married into Michigan at some level to begin with. But it was really the arrival of our children that cemented our relationship to Traverse City. We depended on the help that we got from my mother and father-in-law, the kids’ grandparents, and we found that it really is a great home and we have a great support network there for raising our kids. But when it comes to the professional side, I’ve got more than enough to keep all of my energies occupied with the work of the Transportation Department and I’m proud to be doing it.”

One thing is for sure – he’ll be voting Democrat in the midterms on November 8th.