Statewide Iowa — Two of the three Democrats running for their party’s U.S. Senate nomination say American troops should not be deployed to Ukraine but candidate Mike Franken says if Russia uses nuclear weapons, plans should change.
Franken, a retired Navy Admiral, says the United States and like-minded countries must respond to help pick up the pieces if there’s a nuclear strike on Ukraine.
Candidate Abby Finkenauer a former congresswoman, applauds the sanctions the U.S. and its allies have imposed on Russia and she supports providing Ukraine with the weapons and humanitarian aid it needs.
Candidate Glenn Hurst, a physician from Minden, says the focus should be on working with European allies to support Ukraine and on resettling refugees in the United States.
The candidates made their comments this weekend during a televised debate hosted by KCCI in Des Moines, KCRG in Cedar Rapids, KTIV in Sioux City and KWQC in Davenport. The three candidates are competing to run in the General Election against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, who is expected to win his GOP Primary race against state senator Jim Carlin. This weekend’s debate among the three Democrats highlighted their different views on ethanol policy. Hurst says it’s time to scale back the emphasis on ethanol because the auto industry is shifting to electric vehicles.
Finkenauer says the Biden Administration made the right move to allow E-15 sales this summer, but she says the move should be made permanent.
Franken also supports year-round sales of E-15 as a temporary solution, but he says the focus should be on finding alternate uses for ethanol as fuel for planes and ships or for power generation in Iowa.
The three U.S. Senate candidates will meet in one more televised forum on Thursday, May 19th on Iowa PBS.
