Beto O’Rourke’s campaign outreach comes as the former Texas congressman begins to more intensely court activists outside of his home state. | Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images 2020 elections O'Rourke ramps up in Iowa The Texan is reviewing resumes of potential staffers and set to campaign for a Democratic statehouse candidate.

Beto O’Rourke is beginning to staff up in Iowa and has been in talks about visiting the first-in-the-nation caucus state as early as this week.

Democrats organizing a rally for Eric Giddens, a Democratic state Senate candidate, in Iowa on Saturday have told prospective attendees that they expect O’Rourke to appear at the event, a source familiar with the plans told POLITICO.


Norm Sterzenbach, a former executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, is assisting O’Rourke in the state and was reviewing resumes from potential staffers as recently as last week, according to two sources familiar with O’Rourke’s Iowa operation. Paul Tewes, who ran Obama’s 2008 operation in the state, is also helping O’Rourke. So is Margaret Jarosz, who was working for Sen. Sherrod Brown in Iowa before he elected not to run for president, the sources said.

David Plouffe, Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, has also made calls on O’Rourke’s behalf, according to three Democrats. But Plouffe has also spoken with other 2020 contenders or their campaigns, the sources said.

O’Rourke, like several Democrats who already have announced their presidential campaigns, has been in discussions about assisting Giddens in his March 19 special election, potentially with a door-knocking effort, according to three Iowa Democrats.

O’Rourke’s outreach comes as the former Texas congressman begins to more intensely court activists outside of his home state. He is preparing for a near-certain presidential run after months of deliberation.

O’Rourke is scheduled to participate in a call with the High School Democrats of America on Sunday, the group said. Its advisory informed participants that questions must be “must be brief and unrelated to Beto as a potential 2020 candidate.”

“Furthermore, all questions are subject to review,” the advisory said.

The call follows calls done with High School Democrats of America by two declared presidential candidates — Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

“We’re so honored to be having someone like Beto O’Rourke in sort of the most consequential period of his political career, potentially,” Brennan Leach, the group’s national communications director, said Monday. “He’s been sort of lying low and under the radar. For him to take the time to come and speak to all of us — the next generation of Democratic leaders — is very meaningful.”

O’Rourke said nearly two weeks ago that he has decided whether to run for president. In Austin, Texas, over the weekend for the South by Southwest festival, he told reporters, “I want to make sure I do it the right way and I tell everyone at the same time, so I’ll be doing that.”

He said, “I’ve got to be on the timeline that works for my family and for the country.”

A Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom poll released Saturday saw O’Rourke’s poll numbers slipping in Iowa. He had dropped to 5 percent in the poll, down from 11 percent in December. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are running far ahead of the rest of the field in the state.

O’Rourke’s advisers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nor did Gibbens, Sterzenbach, Tewes or Plouffe.