Senator Sam Brownback, a little-known presidential candidate from Kansas, has been on the campaign trail in Iowa lately, encouraging his supporters to turn out for the straw poll in Ames in August.

Brownback is a religious candidate, an open Catholic who opened a rally Friday for the grand opening of his Iowa campaign office in Des Moines with prayer.

Chuck Hurley, lawyer and former Iowa legislator, asked God to oversee the process of the nation choosing its next leader as he led the opening prayer.

“[Brownback] said only if God wants him to be president does he want to be president,” Hurley, who is also a member of Brownback’s exploratory committee, told the group of supporters after praying.

“Sam Brownback: A conservative Iowans can trust,” was written on the promotional posters and pamphlets Brownback has used in his Iowa campaigning. The senator is an advocate of faith in the public square and relies heavily on his anti-abortion commitment in his campaigning.

“We must overturn Roe versus Wade,” Brownback said at the rally.

Brownback told his supporters that he is against a theocracy, which he said is not helpful to society, but that the separation of church and state “does not mean the removal of faith from the public square.”

“We shouldn’t kick God out of the public square,” he said. “We should invite him in.”

Brownback said political life should embrace all of religion, and quoted Mother Theresa in saying, “‘I love all religions, but I’m in love with my own.'”

Although the senator relies on his anti-abortion stance, he refers to himself as not only pro-life but also as “whole-life,” having worked across the aisle with such people as senators Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy “to advance the cause of life in Sudan,” Hurley said.

Francis Bok, refugee from Sudan and human rights advocate, was present at the Des Moines rally to speak about his support for the candidate.

“He helped us in the Senate, in the Congress and in the newspapers,” Bok said.

Bok said Brownback was “a modern-day abolitionist.”

“When he becomes president of the United States, he’s the president of Sudan,” he said.

The senator said he was thankful Bok was present at the rally because he exemplified what his cause was all about: that each life is sacred and deserving of an opportunity to live life to the fullest, from the unborn child to the child in Darfur, he said.

Michael Bergman, junior in speech communication, serves as a field representative in Brownback’s campaign. He said he was drawn to the candidate because of his anti-abortion stance.

“Brownback is probably going to be the best candidate for the pro-life movement,” Bergman said.

Rob Wasinger, Brownback’s campaign manager, said Brownback has a good chance at winning, especially in Iowa.

“[Brownback] is a man of deep conviction and principle,” Wasinger said. “He says what he means and he means what he says.”