The Democrat who won the 2020 Iowa Caucuses says he’ll campaign virtually in Iowa this fall in support of party nominee Joe Biden. Pete Buttigieg spoke to Iowa Democrats tonight in an online forum focused on voter turn-out.
“I have seen up close and personal just how seriously Iowans take your role in the process and I’m thrilled to be seeing Iowa shaping up to be a real battleground in November,” Buttigieg said, “the battleground for the Biden-Harris ticket and a tipping point for control of the Senate.”
Buttigieg, who briefly reminisced about campaigning in Iowa, began by addressing Iowans who are still dealing with the damage of last week’s destructive derecho.
“I want you know know you have friends around the country who know the resilience of your communities and stand ready to support you any way that we can,” Buttigieg said. “These events are also a reminder that extreme weather is happening more and more often and it is not just a coastal concern. It has come to impact Midwestern communinities again and again.”
Deidre De Jear, the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2018 nominee for Secretary of State, also spoke to the group, reviewing Iowa’s early voting options and deadlines for the 2020 General Election.
“I know that you know how important this election is,” De Jear said. “…We don’t have to just win. We have to win big. That means voting in record numbers.”
State Auditor Rob Sand was the host of the video event. Sand began by urging Iowans who can to find ways to help their neighbors struggling to recover from derecho damage and he closed by returning to the theme of getting out the vote.
“We can’t just eek this out,” Sand said. “We need to make sacrifices.”