Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) has reportedly received an invitation to visit the Polk County Democratic Party in Des Moines, Iowa — the state that hosts the first presidential nominating contest of 2020.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the Democratic Party in Des Moines, which is home to one-third of the state’s Democratic voters, extended the invitation to O’Rourke on Monday.
{mosads}“We would love to host him,” Sean Bagniewski, the chairman of the Polk County Democratic Party, told the publication. “He was unapologetically progressive. He’s a young face. He wasn’t afraid to be himself. Democrats are often very poll-tested, very consultant-driven. He was more authentic in a way that people haven’t seen since Barack Obama, so he connected with people nationwide in ways that some of our more cautious political leaders haven’t.”
O’Rourke has not responded to the invitation, according to the publication.
“It’s real. In Iowa, everybody knows the next person that they want to meet, and by far he is the No. 1 person that’s being requested right now — volunteers, elected officials, our membership base,” Bagniewski continued. “Everybody right now is asking for Beto.”
The Democrat lost his bid for incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) seat in last week’s midterm elections, finishing within 3 percentage points of the Republican senator. Since his loss, some have called for O’Rourke to mount a 2020 presidential campaign to challenge President Trump.
The Travis County Democratic Party encouraged supporters of O’Rourke to hold on to their campaign signs in hopes of his possible 2020 presidential run and is selling stickers to change outdated Senate campaign signs from “Beto for Senate” to “Beto for 2020.”
A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Monday found that O’Rourke came in third among Democratic voters nationwide on their list of desired 2020 presidential candidates. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were came in ahead of O’Rourke among respondents.
A number of other Democrats have raised speculation of a possible 2020 bid against Trump, some of whom have visited Iowa in recent months. Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) have so far made appearances in the state in recent weeks.
The Hill has reached out to O’Rourke’s campaign for comment.