New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (left) speaks to freshman Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) at the state capitol for the third annual Women's March on Jan. 19 in Des Moines, Iowa. 2020 Elections ‘They’re all calling me’: 2020 hopefuls woo House freshmen Democratic presidential candidates are seeking help, and a little midterm magic, from House freshmen in Iowa and other early states.

DES MOINES, Iowa — At the largest event of her first trip to Iowa, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand took several minutes backstage to buttonhole Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), the two women leaning in close to hear each other over the din of hundreds of protesters inside the Iowa State Capitol building.

Gillibrand and Axne just exchanged pleasantries at the Iowa Women’s March, where they both spoke, according to their camps. But it’s becoming a familiar scene for the half-dozen House freshmen who hail from the four early presidential caucus and primary states, who are getting out-sized attention from the sprawling crowd of Democratic presidential hopefuls.


The courting started in 2018, when national Democrats with an eye on the White House signed email solicitations and flew in for high-profile campaign visits — Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), who won perhaps House Democrats’ biggest upset in 2018, had Vice President Joe Biden, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti all come to his aid last year. But Democratic presidential candidates’ pursuit of these early-state representatives has already gotten unusually intense, according to national and local operatives, as a sprawling field of presidential contenders look for the local cred or leg up in Iowa that could provide a critical boost to their campaign.

“They’re all calling me,” said Axne, who was first elected last fall. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bullock, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and former Rep. John Delaney all appeared at events alongside Axne in 2018.

But the overwhelmed first-time candidate actually got the point of telling 2020 contenders during the midterms: “I can’t keep having you come in, I’ve got to focus on my own race.”

Playing kingmaker in a Democratic presidential primary could also be risky for these House members. All six of the freshman Democrats from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina represent battleground seats that will be hotly contested by Republicans in 2020, so intervening in national politics “can easily be used as a line of attack,” said Tyler Jones, a Democratic consultant in South Carolina who advised Cunningham and is now working on the “Draft Beto” effort.

“But Joe’s not going to stay out of this just because there isn’t necessarily a political upside for him,” Jones said. “If there’s someone out there that really aligns with his values, then he’ll probably support them because that’s who he is, that’s how he ran his race in 2018.”

These early state members aren’t the only sought-after endorsements. A nod from social media star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) could also upend the race, while a fight is already underway for supporters in the Congressional Black Caucus.

But the effort to sway members from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina has reached new heights. “They all reached out to us then, but it’s nothing to the level that’s going on now,” said Monica Vernon, a Democrat who ran for an Iowa congressional seat in 2016. “It’s hard to keep track of all the presidential candidates, so it’s got to be absolutely crazy for those [House] members.”

The courtship comes in all kinds of forms: Blasting out fundraising emails, headlining campaign events, placing congratulatory calls on election night in 2018, and now, soliciting thoughts about running in their states. Early-state members characterized their conversations with 2020 hopefuls as friendly and advice-centered, but the breadth of the field makes it harder for members to weigh in, said freshman Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.).

“Sen. Warren, Sen. Harris, Sen. Merkley, Sen. Booker, Gov. Hickenlooper, Gov. Bullock — I had a message from Mayor Bloomberg before his visit and Sen. Gillibrand, too,” said Pappas, rattling off the 2020 contenders who had called him in recent weeks. “Who else am I forgetting? I don’t have my score sheet in front of me.”

COUNTDOWN TO 2020 The race for 2020 starts now. Stay in the know. Follow our presidential election coverage. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

It’s still not clear, however, if the flirtations will yield any early endorsements. So far, four of the early-state freshmen — Axne, Pappas, Cunningham and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) — didn’t close the door on endorsing in the presidential primary. But they gave no details on when they might decide or whom they favored.

“It’s like decorating for Christmas, seems to come earlier and earlier every year,” Cunningham said, referring to the presidential campaign cycle.

Some of the freshmen, for now, see their role as somethink akin to a cruise director.

“I’ve taken calls and meetings and scheduled coffees with virtually all the announced candidates and some of whom have said they’re thinking about running,” Horsford said. “I view my role as helping to make sure they understand our state, know the important players, make sure they talk to the various communities.”

Nonetheless, “this class of new House Democrats contains not one shrinking violet,” said former Rep. Steve Israel, who once chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “I anticipate they’re going to be very aggressive and quite outspoken in considering their endorsements.”

It’s also not stopping presidential contenders from pulling out all the stops for these freshmen, as well as other down-ballot elected officials. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised nearly $11 million for Democrats, including for Iowa state House candidates. Booker stumped for candidates in all four early states and brought in $7 million for Democratic candidates. In October, Gillibrand blitzed across New Hampshire last fall alongside Molly Kelly, the Democratic candidate for governor.

The biggest financial commitment from any 2020 contender came from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped $110 million on the midterm cycle and boosted candidates across the country.

Some of those early-state forays translated into presidential staffing moves, too. Harris, who raised $9 million for Democrats in 2018, called Deidre DeJear, then a candidate for Iowa’s secretary of state, a “rock star” at an October event in Des Moines. Months later, Harris’ campaign announced that DeJear will chair her Iowa campaign.

Candidates are even chasing after one congressional hopeful’s old RV.

JD Scholten, the Democrat who narrowly lost a longshot campaign against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) in 2018, said that in the days after his defeat, he got several calls from presidential candidates interested in leasing or buying his “Sioux City Sue” RV, which he used to drive around western Iowa.

“It’s just sitting in storage right now,” Scholten said — adding that he’s also open to endorsing ahead of the Iowa caucuses, but he’s waiting for the field to fill out.

Scholten appeared alongside Gillibrand for her first trip to Iowa earlier this month, and he also joined Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is considering a presidential bid, for his listening tour in Iowa this week.

And in this yearlong race for cash and surrogates, Democratic strategists said that House members and other elected officials hold even more endorsement power than in cycles past.

“In such a crowded field, endorsements matter. Local validators matter. And that includes early state rising stars in Congress,” said John Lapp, a Democratic media consultant who worked on President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. “Think back to 2007 when then first-term Rep. Dave Loebsack endorsed Barack Obama, which was a real shot in the arm in the crowded 2008 field. The same will be true in 2020.”