“It’s now five-plus weeks from the election,” Beto O'Rourke said last week when asked about his plans, and “I’m no closer to deciding.” | AP Photo/Eric Gay 2020 Elections New ‘Draft Beto’ group launches to rally support for 2020 bid

A group of Democratic activists and progressive “social media influencers” will launch a “Draft Beto” campaign on Tuesday, a source involved with the effort told POLITICO.

The group will focus its efforts on raising $1 million for a future presidential campaign for Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman whose 2018 Senate campaign against Republican Ted Cruz captured Democratic imaginations. Organizers set up an ActBlue escrow account that would immediately transfer all the money raised if and when O’Rourke announces a presidential campaign next year.


The campaign marks the second draft effort to launch in the weeks after the November election, where O’Rourke lost narrowly to Cruz but raised over $80 million. The other, "Draft Beto 2020," rallied a few dozen supporters in the important presidential primary state of New Hampshire this past weekend with a video also released on Tuesday.

The new group has committed to transfer its email list, social media accounts, and volunteer roster to any presidential campaign, although O’Rourke already has one of the most valuable email lists in American politics.

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The draft campaign is animated by unbridled enthusiasm for the three-term El Paso congressman, who has said he has “no hard date” on making a decision about entering the race.

"The comparisons to JFK and even Obama exist for a reason. Beto's ability to inspire and connect with voters is unparalleled, even among such strong field of presidential contenders," Nate Lerner, a co-founder of "Draft Beto" and head of its grassroots team, told POLITICO.

The campaign includes progressive social media “influencers” like actor Misha Collins (2.9 million Twitter followers) and voice actress Tara Strong (known for her "Powerpuff Girls" and "Rugrats" performances, she has 387,000 followers); Santiago Palomino, a field organizer from O’Rourke’s Senate campaign; and two former congressional candidates who ran unsuccessfully in 2018 in deep-red districts, Mallory Hagan and Renee Hoagenson.

“Draft Beto is a revolutionary campaign to convince Beto O'Rourke to run for President in 2020,” the organizers write on their website DraftBeto.us.

If the fundraising effort is successful, it would provide a valuable boost to O’Rourke, who spent nearly all his money in his Senate campaign and will need to quickly catch up in fundraising to other candidates who have been planning presidential runs. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand, for example, still have millions of dollars from their November elections that they can transfer to their presidential campaigns.

A spokesman for O’Rourke did not respond to a request for comment.

In Iowa, a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll released over the weekend showed O’Rourke in third with 11 percent support, trailing former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“It’s now five-plus weeks from the election,” the Texas congressman told reporters last week when asked about his plans, and “I’m no closer to deciding.”

