It begins.

Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas Congressman who garnered national attention for his recent Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), will be stopping in State College tomorrow morning for a meet and greet.

While other big names have laid the groundwork in Pennsylvania over the past couple of years, Tuesday marks the first presidential campaign visit by a Democratic who has explicitly declared his bid for his party’s nomination.

The event will take place at the Hetzel Union Building starting at 10 a.m.

This trip comes after O’Rourke spent time visiting 13 counties in Iowa last week, eight of which voted for Trump in 2016 after voting for Obama in 2012, according to Roll Call. He also spoke in Wisconsin over the weekend and plans to make stops in Michigan and Ohio before campaigning in New Hampshire.  

Numerous Dem hopefuls have worked to raise their profile in Pa., not least of which is Sen. Bernie Sanders, who pulled 44% of the vote against Hillary Clinton here in 2016.

Sen. Kamala Harris stumped for Bob Casey in 2018, and former VP Joe Biden is a frequent attendee of Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade (although he skipped the event this year).

Pa. holds its 2020 primary on April 28, right at the midpoint of the Democratic calendar.