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.
“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.”