Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Political News

Iowa Supreme Court: Finkenauer qualifies for Senate ballot

Democrat Abby Finkenauer leaves the Iowa Supreme Court Building with her husband Daniel Wasta, Wednesday, April 13, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa. The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that Finkenauer qualifies for the primary ballot, rejecting a lower court decision and allowing her to continue her campaign for the nomination. The court’s decision Friday, April 15, leaves Finkenauer as the likely front-runner in a race with two lesser-known candidates ahead of Iowa’s June 7 primary. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that Democratic Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer qualifies for the primary ballot, rejecting a lower court decision and allowing her to continue her campaign for the nomination and the chance to face longtime Republican Sen. Charles Grassley.

The court’s decision leaves Finkenauer as the likely front-runner in a race with two lesser-known candidates ahead of Iowa’s June 7 primary. The winner will run against Grassley, who is seeking an eighth term in the Senate.

“This is 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,” Finkenauer said in a statement.

She said it’s more than a victory for her campaign but about justice for Iowans and democracy prevailing over “meritless partisan attacks orchestrated by Washington Republicans and allies of Senator Grassley seeking to silence Iowans and undermine the democratic process.”

Her lawyer Gary Dickey said the unanimous decision shows the court put politics aside to reach the correct legal result.

The lawyer for the Republican objectors did not immediately respond to a message.

The court rejected a lower court’s ruling that found that Finkenauer failed to meet a state law that requires candidates to submit at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties to qualify for the ballot. A majority of justices agreed that a Polk County judge was wrong when he ruled that three signatures from two counties were invalid, leaving Finkenauer without enough signatures.

The court said the legislature last year passed new sections of the law that identified specific circumstances when objections to petitions should be sustained.

“The legislature did not include missing or incorrect dates as one of the grounds for sustaining an objection to a petition. We conclude that the recent legislation prevails,” the court said.

The court ordered the case back to the district court judge and an order is entered dismissing the objectors petition.

The court acknowledged it wasn’t an easy decision.

“Statutory interpretation is not like proving math theorems, and it is sometimes difficult to come up with a neat answer that is intellectually satisfying. In the end, we believe we must be guided by the legislature’s last word on the subject,” it said.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruling affirmed an earlier decision by an election panel that Finkenauer had qualified for the ballot. Two Republican activists had brought the initial challenge and appealed the panel’s decision to the district court.

Finkenauer called the Polk County Judge Scott Beattie’s ruling a “meritless partisan attack.” Beattie was appointed in 2018 by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who also appointed four justices to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Finkenauer, of Dubuque, is best known as one of the first woman elected to the House from Iowa and the second-youngest female House member in U.S. history, winning election in 2018 at the age of 29 and just 10 months older than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York.

The other Democrats seeking the Democratic nomination are Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral, and Glenn Hurst, a doctor and Minden City Council member.

Any of the Democrats would be viewed as longshots against Grassley, who has held elected office since 1959. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1974 and to the Senate in 1980.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abby-finkenauer-des-moines-iowa-supreme-court-342ddda6ec47402c9bae06ec7f1c09b5

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Business News

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — Students were dancing in the aisles and their seats in the Hampton University auditorium long before Vice President Kamala Harris took the...

Business News

Mitt Romney’s announcement this week that he will not seek another term in the U.S. Senate came with a distant echo of his father’s departure from politics...

Business News

Russian authorities on Sunday reported multiple attempts to sabotage voting in local elections taking place in occupied areas of Ukraine. Votes are taking place...

Business News

ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury investigating efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many...

Copyright © 2023 Newsworthy News | Global | Political | Local | All News | Website By: Top Search SEO