The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday ruled that former Rep. Abby Finkenauer's name can appear on the Democratic primary ballot in the state's U.S. Senate race, reversing a lower court order and reviving her hopes of challenging Republican Chuck Grassley in the fall.
“The Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today has affirmed that we are right on the law, and that we will be on the ballot for U.S. Senate," Finkenauer said in a statement.
In a ruling Sunday, Polk County District Judge Scott Beattie found that Finkenauer should be kept off the ballot because three of the signers on her nominating petition hadn’t included the correct date.
The panel of Supreme Court judges reversed that decision, finding a state law enacted last year shielded Finkenauer from the technicality.
Alan Ostergren, the attorney for the two Republicans who challenged Finkenauer's petition, said he was disappointed by the ruling and "would have liked to have seen a different result," but the court "worked hard on it."
"We'll move forward," he said.
Finkenauer said her campaign turned in over 5,000 signatures, more than the 3,500 needed to be on the ballot. Republicans Kim Schmett and Leanne Pellett argued she fell short of a different requirement, having 100 eligible signers from 19 counties.
They argued the three signatures with incorrect dates kept her just short of the 100-signature mark in two counties. Beattie agreed, finding election law requires that signatures include "the date of signing."
"None of these signatories included even part of the date of the signature,” he found.
In its ruling Friday, the state's high court found that statute was trumped by legislation passed last year in which the "legislature did not include missing or incorrect dates as one of the grounds for sustaining an objection to a petition."
Finkenauer called the ruling "a moment for all advocates for democracy — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — to celebrate the enduring strength of our democratic process and a reminder to never take it for granted."
The decision was handed down on the same date that the Iowa secretary of state’s office had said it needed to know who’s on the ballot so it can be sent to military and overseas voters. The two other Democrats running in the June 7 Senate primary are retired Navy Adm. Mike Franken and Dr. Glenn Hurst, a member of the Minden City Council.
Finkenauer has the highest name recognition in the race to take on the 88-year-old Grassley, who’s running for an eighth term. She became the second-youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she won during the Democratic wave of 2018, but was defeated two years later when Republicans rolled back many of Democrats’ gains.
Michaela Sundermann, the communications director for Grassley's campaign, said Finkenauer "thumbed her nose at Iowa’s election laws" while the incumbent had "collected nearly three times more than the required number of signatures from Iowans."
