Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke drew a crowd of supporters in Nashville Sunday, largely focusing on immigration as he vowed to undo current federal policies on asylum seekers and pitched his ability to appeal to red state voters.

The former Texas congressman is spending two days in Nashville, drawing hundreds for a rally at Marathon Music Works on Sunday before he is scheduled to tour a food bank and take part in a roundtable on immigration Monday.

"Like you, until recently, I thought I lived in a state that was too red to count," O'Rourke told the crowd, recalling his bid for U.S. Senate last year when he lost against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in a tight, highly contested race that generated record midterm turnout, specifically among young voters.

He stayed afterward to take photos with each of the hundreds of supporters who waited in line.
"I think that Tennessee and Nashville are places that are, frankly, taken for granted by Democrats or written off altogether," O'Rourke told The Tennessean after the rally.