"It’s centrally located in the country. It’s the place that I identify most closely with as home,” said attorney Michael Avenatti. | Cheryl Senter/AP Photo Avenatti would base his 2020 campaign in St. Louis

He hasn’t decided yet if he’s running for president, but Michael Avenatti has already made a strategic 2020 decision.

The attorney will base his national presidential campaign headquarters in St. Louis, Mo. should he launch a White House bid, he told POLITICO on Sunday.


Best known for representing porn actress “Stormy Daniels” and holding an outsized presence on cable TV, Avenatti said he sees the Midwest as key to a successful run for president.

He believes he’ll be the first presidential candidate to headquarter in St. Louis since Dick Gephardt’s 1988 presidential run (Gephardt’s 2004 campaign was based in D.C.).

“I grew up there, I have ties to the area, my parents still live there; they’re getting older. It’s centrally located in the country. It’s the place that I identify most closely with as home,” said Avenatti, whose family moved to the St. Louis suburbs when he was 11. “If I do this, I’m going to spend a significant part of my campaign in the Midwest.”

Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. 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.

Avenatti also boldly predicted that the red state of Missouri would be “in play” for Democrats if he were the nominee.

“If I do this, I think Missouri is very much going to be in play,” he said. “I’m going to spend a lot of time there.”

In 2016, President Donald Trump won Missouri by 19 percentage points over Hillary Clinton.

The fiery Avenatti, who’s served as a marquee foil to the president, has already spent time in Iowa, Ohio and New Hampshire and said he has at least 28 Democratic events on his calendar before November.

He’s scheduled to hold a “resistance rally” to counter a Trump rally in Texas next month.

