DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Beto O’Rourke says he’s hired 37 staffers to help with organizing in Iowa, boosting his staff to 44 in the state that kicks off presidential primary voting.
Some 2020 presidential hopefuls have larger Iowa staffs but O’Rourke’s now approaching the upper tier. His campaign announced a “statewide weekend of action” beginning Saturday featuring door-knocking and canvassing.
The former Texas congressman and his wife, Amy, also will open a Cedar Rapids campaign office, his first outside Des Moines, Iowa’s capital, on June 8.
Not counting that trip, the campaign says O’Rourke has held more Iowa events than any 2020 presidential campaign, attending 67 town halls and house parties since joining the race in mid-March.
O’Rourke has seen once-promising polling numbers fall, increasing pressure to perform in Iowa’s Feb. 3 caucus.
