Beto O'Rourke eyes Iowa visit as 2020 announcement looms

O'Rourke and his team have been working on a video to promote an Iowa Democrat running in a state Senate special election, and his team has been in discussions for O'Rourke to knock doors in the northeast Iowa district this weekend, multiple state Democratic sources tell CNN.

The moves suggest O'Rourke is ramping up for a presidential bid, including his first trip to Iowa as a candidate or prospective candidate.

O'Rourke would not be the only presidential hopeful bringing his star power to campaign for Democrat Eric Giddens, who is running for an Iowa State Senate seat against Republican Walt Rogers. Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey are slated to knock doors for Giddens this weekend.

Asked about O'Rourke's potential visit, Giddens told CNN, "All I can say about the visit is that I am aware that there have been discussions between the organizers of my campaign and his team, but I don't know if anything's been confirmed yet."

O'Rourke's video for Giddens will focus on getting out the vote among students at the University of Northern Iowa, according to two Democratic sources informed of its content. Two days of on-campus votoing will kick off tomorrow; Election Day is March 19.

The video was produced with help from Norm Sterzenbach, a veteran Iowa Democratic operative who until recently was a contractor advising the state party on the caucuses. He is no longer working in that role, a source familiar told CNN, sparking speculation that he could join O'Rourke's campaign.

Sterzenbach and multiple advisers close to O'Rourke did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to CNN and other news outlets last month, O'Rourke said, "Amy and I have made a decision about how we can best serve our country. We are excited to share it with everyone soon."

All signs since have pointed to moving forward with a campaign for president. O'Rourke's team has recently teased his upcoming "big announcement" in emails to supporters, and he has been building out a national campaign staff, CNN previously reported.

Following the premiere of an HBO documentary chronicling his unsuccessful Senate campaign, "Running with Beto," at SXSW in Austin this past weekend, O'Rourke deflected a question about his 2020 plans by praising local candidates featured in the film.

"There are so many candidacies, so many leaders, who we got to be a part of this amazing thing in Texas over the last two years, and it continues, and we are so excited," he said. "We just want to continue to be a part of it."

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