Iowa Judge Rules That Dem Sen Candidate Won’t Appear on Primary Ballot Due to Petition Signature Snafu

A judge in Iowa has ruled that former U.S. House Rep Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) won’t appear on the primary senate ballot due to a petition signature snafu.

District Judge Scott Beattie of the 5th Judicial District of Iowa ruled yesterday that Finkenauer did not collect enough signatures.

Specifically, “The Finkenauer campaign has failed to submit at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties” according to the ruling.

Finkenauer was attempting to challenge U.S. Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA) who she called, “more vulnerable than ever” in a recent tweet.

“This moment means everything. We must defend democracy and fight back,” Finkenauer declared as well in the recent tweet as she vowed “NOT” to “give up.”

Since the GOP doesn't seem to understand, let me say this clearly: we will NOT give up.

They know @ChuckGrassley is more vulnerable than ever—and they’re scared of the movement we've built.

This moment means everything. We must defend democracy and fight back.

— Abby Finkenauer (@Abby4Iowa) April 11, 2022

A September Iowa Poll, however, conducted just before Grassley announced his reelection campaign, found Grassley leading Finkenauer 55% to 37% among likely voters.

Not only that, but another more recent poll that was released last month, found that nearly half of the respondents didn’t know who Finkenauer was.

That poll also found that Grassley is viewed favorably by 47% of Iowans, while only 40% viewed him unfavorably.

It would appear that if the decision holds, Michael Franken would appear to be the next most-known Democrat in the race, although according to the poll, two-thirds of respondents had no idea who he was.