Potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker, D-N.J., is urging party faithful in Iowa to stay the course ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, despite the disappointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation.

“This is not a time to curl up. It is not a time to shut up. It is not a time to give up," Booker told attendees at the state party's fall fundraising gala Saturday night, according to the Des Moines Register. "It is a time to get up, to rise up, to speak up!”

Booker is a Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat who drew both praise and ire for his "Spartacus" moment during Kavanaugh's initial confirmation hearing. The New Jersey Democrat claimed to have violated Senate rules by releasing emails related to the justice's time in the George W. Bush White House, but the documents had already been approved for public dissemination

Kavanaugh's nomination was roiled by sexual misconduct allegations dating back to the 1980s, which he has vehemently denied. President Trump backed his Supreme Court pick, regardless of the accusations from the women, including Christine Blasey Ford.

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“Hope is the act of conviction that despair can never have the last word,” Booker said Saturday, the Washington Post reports. “We’re not defined in this state by Republicans in power; we’re defined by how we respond to them. We’re not defined by a president who mocks a hero, Dr. [Christine] Blasey Ford. We’re not defined by a president who doesn’t believe women.”

Booker, who was also floated as a possible vice presidential candidate in 2016 to join Hillary Clinton's ticket, downplayed speculation about his 2020 prospects.

"I do need to get in shape, so I will probably go jogging here in Iowa in the morning," he told reporters after the event when asked whether he was running for the White House, according to ABC News. "No, in all seriousness we’re here to focus on the election coming up in 31 days."

The gala, formerly known as the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, is a high-profile fundraiser in the early voting state.