Lissandra Villa

lvilla@dmreg.com

File this under: "things that could only happen in Des Moines in January of 2016."

It goes something like this.

A Democrat walks into a restaurant and randomly finds he's in the midst of a rally for another candidate, from the Republican party. And then he ... makes some friends?

That Democrat was presidential candidate Martin O'Malley.

The GOP debate on Thursday prompted watch parties, including one in Des Moines where Ben Carson supporters and staffers were in attendance.

Lis Smith, deputy campaign manager for the O'Malley campaign, tweeted that O'Malley had walked into the Des Moines restaurant and found himself at a Carson debate watch party.

There, Megan Assman, a staffer on the Carson campaign, tweeted a photo of O'Malley, where she and another woman flank the former governor of Maryland.

Assman's tweet states that despite O'Malley being a Democrat, he is "actually a really nice guy!"

Assman, a South Dakotan, arrived in Iowa nine months before Carson declared his candidacy in order to work for his campaign. The Register previously reported she postponed her final semester at Simpson to work for his campaign.