Cedar Rapids, Iowa — Former Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids is launching a campaign for the U.S. Senate — with a video on social media that appears to be an announcement to a room of supporters.
Finkenauer, a Democrat, is a former state legislator who was elected to the U.S. House in 2018 and lost her bid for a second term in 2020. Dave Muhlbauer, a former Crawford County Supervisor, announced he is running for the Iowa Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination last month. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has been raising money for his campaign account but has not yet said whether he’ll seek reelection in 2022. Finkenauer’s campaign news release says she’ll focus on blue-collar values and does not mention Grassley. But Finkenauer’s announcement VIDEO does.
Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Finkenauer had a disastrous record as a member of the U.S. House and — in a reference to her 2020 loss — Kaufmann says he looks forward to seeing even more Iowans reject Finkenauer in 2022. Grassley has said he’ll announce this fall whether he’ll seek an eighth term in the U.S. Senate.
