This rejects a lower court judgment. It allows her to continue her campaign for nomination and to face Charles Grassley , longtime Republican Senator.
Finkenauer is the most likely front-runner following the unanimous court decision. This race was contested by two less-known candidates before Iowa’s June 7th primary. The winner will face Grassley who is running for an eighth term in Senate.
Finkenauer stated in a statement that “This is an opportunity for all advocates of democracy — Democrats and Republicans — to celebrate and remind us to never take it for granted.”
She stated that it was more than a win for her campaign. It’s about justice for Iowans, democracy prevailing over “meritless partisan attack orchestrated by Washington Republicans” and Senator Grassley’s allies in an effort to silence Iowans.
Gary Dickey, her lawyer, stated that the court ignored politics to arrive at the right legal outcome.
Alan Ostergren, the lawyer representing Republican objectors, stated that the Legislature must change the law. He listed what must appear on a nomination petition and the consequences for failing to do so.
He stated that “the only reason these issues were litigated was because the Abby Finkenauer campaign failed in sufficient signatures to have an adequate margin — something that every other political campaign was capable of doing this cycle.”
Michaela Sundermann, Grassley campaign spokeswoman, criticized Finkenauer’s earlier call for the challenge to be a partisan attack rather than admitting fault. She said that Grassley collected signatures from 99 Iowa counties, nearly three times the number required by law.
“Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn’t take Iowans for granted. She said that Chuck Grassley follows the law and does more than the minimum requirements to be qualified.”
A lower court ruling that Finkenauer did not meet state law required candidates to submit at minimum 100 signatures from at most 19 counties in order to be eligible for the ballot was rejected by the court. Finkenauer was left without sufficient signatures because of the ruling by a Polk County judge.
According to the court, the Legislature passed new sections last year that defined specific circumstances in which petitions should not be denied.
“The statute did not include missing or wrong dates as a ground for refusing to grant a petition. The court concluded that the most recent legislation prevailed.
It was not an easy decision, the court acknowledged.
“Statutory interpret is not like proofing math theorems. It is sometimes hard to find an intellectually satisfying answer. We believe that we should be guided by the legislature’s final word on the subject.” it stated.
This ruling confirmed an earlier election panel decision that Finkenauer was eligible for the ballot. Two Republican activists had challenged the initial decision and appealed to the district court.
Finkenauer was ruled against by Scott Beattie, a Polk County Judge. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Beattie in 2018. Kim Reynolds appointed four justices to Iowa’s Supreme Court.
Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids was the first Iowa woman to be elected to the House. She was also the second-youngest female Housemember in American history. In 2018, Finkenauer was 29 years old and only 10 months younger than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Mike Franken (retired Navy admiral) and Glenn Hurst (a Minden City Council Member and doctor) are also candidates for the Democratic nomination.
Any Democratic candidate would be considered a long shot against Grassley who has been elected since 1959. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, and the Senate in 1980.