Des Moines, Iowa — A Polk County judge is expected to rule soon on whether Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer’s name should be listed on the June Primary ballot.
The judge heard legal arguments Wednesday over three signatures on Finkenauer’s nominating petitions where signers wrote the wrong date with their name or no date at all. A state panel accepted the signatures last week. Alan Ostergren is the attorney for Republicans challenging that decision.
If the judge rules the three signatures failed to meet the legal requirements, Finkenauer would fall short of the number of signatures needed to appear on the June 7th Primary ballot. Matt Gannon, an attorney for the state, defended the decision from the State Objection Panel that signatures above and below the ones in question clearly showed the date the petition was signed by those three people.
Whatever ruling the district court judge issues in the coming days is likely to be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. There’s a tight timeline, as absentee ballots must be printed soon for mailing to Iowans who are serving in the military overseas. Finkenauer, Mike Franken and Glenn Hurst submitted petitions for the June Primary ballot, in hopes of winning the Democratic nomination to face Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley in the General Election.
