2019 Polk County Steak Fry

The Steak Fry is the biggest event of the year for the Polk County Democratic Party. This year saw tickets sold in all 50 states and even as far away as Sweden! The unofficial count, last I heard, was 12,000 attendees.

The weather (mostly) held, the steaks were grilled to medium (sorry, Mr. President. No ketchup), and the campaigns were fired up.

In Caucus season, events like this help prove the organizational strength of a campaign: how many tickets you can give away, how many volunteers you can get cheering in your (now-obligatory) march into the event, and how effectively you can canvass the crowd once you’re inside. I think Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden all checked these boxes well.

Disclaimer: Congressman John Delaney is a client of mine. He did not attend this year’s Steak Fry because his daughter was getting married. I think you’ll agree he gets a pass.

It was a long day. Some campaigns had been there since well before the sun came up setting up signs along the 2+ mile road through the park, as well as their pre-event rally areas (a tactic everyone has adopted from the Obama campaign).

It was a great day. Big ups to Sean, Judy, and the entire Steak Fry crew. If there was a hitch, I didn’t see it.

Here’s the slideshow. Enjoy!