“It would be very difficult not to select a woman with so many extraordinary women who are running right now,” he said during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, the Dallas Morning News reported.

“But first I would have to win,” he said. “You know, this is as open as it has ever been.”

O’Rourke added that it would be “presumptuous” to think about a vice presidential selection, according to the newspaper.

He later told someone attending the event that it would be his “preference” to select a female running mate, the Morning News added.