DES MOINES – Republicans failed to keep Democratic challenger and former U.S. Representative Abby Finkenauer off the June primary ballot.
According to court documents, two Republican voters challenged lines of Finkenauer’s nomination petition where eligible electors signed their name and provided their complete address, but either failed to provide the date they signed the petition or provided a mistaken date. These challenges implicate just three signatures out of approximately 4,900 collected on Finkenauer’s behalf.
A bi-partisan state panel dismissed these objections, and Republicans appealed the panel’s dismissal with regard to three signatures to the District Court, and the District Court reversed the panel’s decision.
Today, after the matter was heard this week in court, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the district court decision. Finkenauer will appear on the ballot; the primaries are held June 7.
Right after the verdict was reached, Finkenauer said, “The GOP’s attempts to undermine ballot access and our election process were pathetic and desperate. Today they lost. With a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, we’re still in this fight and we WILL beat Chuck Grassley in November. It’s a good day for our democracy.”
