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DES MOINES — Cory Booker is running for president, and he’s coming to Iowa.

None of that comes as a surprise to anyone who has followed Booker or Iowa politics over the past few years. But now it’s official.

Booker, a U.S. Senator from New Jersey, announced this morning he is running for president. He joins an ever-growing field of Democrats seeking the party’s nomination.

“We are better when we help each other,” Booker said in a video his campaign released this morning. “I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good paying jobs with good benefits in every neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins; where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame.”

Booker will visit Iowa for a two-day swing next weekend, his campaign said. He will visit Mason City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City on Friday, Feb. 8; and Marshalltown and Des Moines on Saturday, Feb. 9.

Details on those events will be released at a later date, Booker’s campaign said.