2020 Watch: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is coming to Iowa

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will headline a political fundraiser in Iowa next month, a visit sure to stoke 2020 speculation for one of the country’s most prominent liberal officeholders.

De Blasio, who was elected to a second term as mayor earlier this year, will be the featured guest for Progress Iowa’s “holiday party” fundraiser Dec. 19 at the Temple for the Performing Arts in Des Moines.

“Iowans are speaking out and showing up to fight back against what conservatives are doing to their state and our country,” de Blasio said in a statement released by Progress Iowa. “Standing up for quality public education, access to health care, and to make sure working families get a fair shot matters in Iowa and New York, and I can't wait to discuss those ideas as well as how we can work together when I visit in December.”

Visits to Iowa, which hosts the first-in-the-nation caucuses, by nationally prominent politicians are frequently read as moves to test the waters of a presidential run. De Blasio has said he will not run for president in 2020, pledging during a mayoral campaign forum last August to serve his full term if re-elected – a term that runs through 2021.

Although the visit is his first since Republican Donald Trump because president, de Blasio is no stranger to Iowa. He campaigned on behalf of Hillary Clinton in the days leading up to the 2016 caucuses, knocking doors in West Des Moines, Indianola, Knoxville and Iowa City.

That trip didn’t bring with it the best press: Politico described it as “awkward,” while the New York Times noted that de Blasio’s offer to appear in Iowa was initially declined by Clinton.

De Blasio previously campaigned in the state for Clinton during the 2008 race and John Edwards in 2004.

The Progress Iowa holiday party begins at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Temple for the Performing Arts in Des Moines. Tickets to the event cost $50 and can be purchased at the Progress Iowa website.