It was already an uphill battle for Democratic Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer to upset Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, but on Sunday, a court in Iowa decided that she would not be allowed to be on the state’s primary ballot on June 7.
This extremely political ruling must be challenged,” Abby Finkenauer said on Monday, referring to the Supreme Court in Iowa.
The Judge’s Rule About Abby Finkenauer
Judge Beattie ordered Finkenauer’s name to not be placed on the ballot for the Democratic Primary for US Senate on Sunday night.
An issue about the number of necessary signatures to be on the ballot is at the heart of the judgment. Despite Finkenaur’s campaign submitting more than the required 3.5k signatures, the court ruled that Finkenauer did not fulfill the criteria that every candidate has at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties in Iowa owing to issues regarding three signatures acquired from Cedar and Allamakee counties.
After reaching this verdict, “the Court finds no satisfaction in this decision,” Beattie said. “This Court ni not eligible to be able to swing an election anyway, and Ms. Finkenauer and her backers should be given a fair shot at success. The role of this Court, however, is to act as an impartial arbiter by applying the law without regard to the parties involved. It’s important to make decisions independently of the political climate.”
In the wake of the ruling, Finkenauer said that her campaign was “exploring all of our possibilities to fight back vigorously.” Finkenauer said later Monday that she will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
