Donald Trump

Beto O'Rourke to Campaign in New Hampshire This Week

Democratic presidential contender Beto O'Rourke will make his first trip to New Hampshire this week since announcing his campaign.

O'Rourke, 46, is scheduled to visit all 10 of New Hampshire's counties between Tuesday and Thursday of this week, according to Politico's David Siders.

The campaign announced Monday that the first stop will be a meet and greet at Keene State College at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday. O'Rourke will then continue traveling the state "to visit with and learn from Granite Staters from all walks of life," the campaign said. Details on those stops have not yet been released.

The former Texas congressman has had a rough start to his campaign, having to defend himself against criticism of the violent fiction he wrote as a teen and a campaign-trail joke he made about how his wife raised their three kids "sometimes with my help." 

O'Rourke entered the 2020 presidential race Thursday after months of speculation. He raised an eye-popping $80 million in grassroots donations last year in his failed U.S. Senate race in Texas against Republican Ted Cruz, all while largely avoiding money from political action committees.

His campaign announced that it raised $6.1 million in the first 24 hours after he announced his run for president. That topped Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had pulled in $6 million during his first day as a candidate.

O'Rourke's reception during his first Iowa swing over the weekend was overwhelmingly positive, even as he launched his campaign by hitting a handful of counties that had shifted from supporting Democrat Barack Obama to backing Republican Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Most of the towns O'Rourke visited during his first two days in the state were small and rural, manufacturing or farming towns. He kicked off his bid in Keokuk, population 10,300, dropped by a private home in Fairfield, a town about the same size, and jumped atop a coffee shop counter to address the crowd in Mount Pleasant, population 8,500.

The strategy set O'Rourke apart from the rest of the field, many of whom have focused their early swings on the state's population centers or on the traditionally blue counties that make up the bulk of the Democratic primary electorate.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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