He believes he’ll be the first presidential candidate to headquarter in St. Louis since Dick Gephardt’s 1988 presidential run (Gephardt’s 2004 campaign was based in D.C.).

“I grew up there, I have ties to the area, my parents still live there; they’re getting older. It’s centrally located in the country. It’s the place that I identify most closely with as home,” said Avenatti, whose family moved to the St. Louis suburbs when he was 11. “If I do this, I’m going to spend a significant part of my campaign in the Midwest.”