MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) -- Gov. Tom Vilsack, D-Iowa, kicks off his pre-presidential campaign with a potluck supper in his hometown of Mount Pleasant tonight.

On the eve of formally launching his bid for the Democratic nomination, the two-term governor will feed about 150 friends and neighbors, plus members of the media.

Vilsack says one of his most vivid impressions of Iowa came from family potlucks after he married Christie -- a tradition that was foreign to him growing up in Pittsburgh.

Vilsack campaign spokesman Jeff Link says there will be almost 100 dishes plus roasters of meatloaf, turkey, ham and vegetable lasagna as well as pies, cakes and cheesecakes.

Vilsack will formally announce his candidacy tomorrow morning in Mount Pleasant, where he served as mayor and which he represented in the Iowa Senate before being elected governor in 1998.

He and his family will then travel to New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Nevada and South Carolina.