ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The message that Pete Buttigieg came to spread on Wednesday evening in St. Petersburg was that every vote matters, especially in an area like Pinellas County.

After he was introduced by St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, Buttigieg stood in front of a crowd of well over 200 supporters at Williams Park. His first few sentences were interrupted by a protester yelling over him, but the former Indiana mayor kept speaking.

He touched on social issues and the importance of the LGBTQ vote.

“It’s definitely important for us in the LGBTQ community to see what’s going on in the Supreme Court, to see people openly talking about rolling back marriage equality and knowing we gotta move in the other direction,” Buttigieg said during a one-on-one interview with Spectrum News reporter Angie Angers.

Earlier in the afternoon, Buttigieg spoke to a smaller crowd in Tampa about issues concerning veterans. He urged Tampa Bay area veterans to cast their ballot for Biden to ensure a military family leads the country.

“Somebody who’s never going to call our troops suckers or call someone not a hero because they’re a POW or just nonsense we’ve seen out of this president,” he said. “We have a chance to do right by those who served. Then bring an end to this pandemic that is harming everybody, it’s as much a security threat of anything I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

Biden will be making a stop in Tampa Thursday evening to speak with supporters.