Beto O’Rourke officially started the 2020 presidential campaign trail in Virginia today, but his focus was on the importance of this year’s state elections.

O’Rourke opened his first event talking about gun safety, noting that Virginia does not have universal background checks. He endorsed Democratic state Senate candidate Missy Cotter Smasal, who is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Bill DeSteph in Virginia Beach.

“We can understand this is a human-caused problem with a human solution to it,” O’Rourke said, and electing Democrats like Smasal to Virginia’s state legislature this November is what will tip the balance of power in favor of gun safety and other Democratic priorities.

O’Rourke stopped by Charlie’s American Café in Norfolk, and said he was the “first presidential candidate to come to the commonwealth.”