Sen. Cory Booker is reportedly placing staffers in Iowa, further fueling speculation that the New Jersey Democrat is preparing to run for president in 2020.
Booker made headlines earlier this week when he challenged Republican senators to launch a motion to expel him from the chamber after publicly revealing emails related to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court marked “committee confidential.”
However it was later revealed that the documents were previously approved for release by the Senate Judiciary Panel, raising questions of whether Booker purposefully misled viewers of Kavanaugh’s hearing. The episode led Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, to retort that chamber rules must be adhered to even if a lawmaker is running for president.
Booker is now adding to that speculation, joining an already long list of potential Democratic nominees in courting voters in Iowa, the critical first state to hold primaries. He will speak at the annual gala thrown by the Iowa Democratic Party and is helping candidates in the state, according to a report in The Guardian.
Other presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Kamala Harris of California, are taking a more subtle approach. Harris is reportedly co-hosting a fundraiser for a candidate for Iowa secretary of state.
