Polk County Judge Scott Beatty said late Sunday that Abby Finkenhauer could not run in the June 7 primaries to determine which Democrat will run against Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is seeking . Beatty said Finkenauer had failed to submit an application with several signatures after two Republicans challenged them. The decision, which is expected to be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, overturned a 2-1 ruling last month by the State Attorney’s Office – consisting of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Auditor Bob Sand, both Democrats. Secretary of State Paul Pate. , Republican – Rejecting the GOP Challenge. The judge said the state commission misinterpreted the law on signatures. “The Court is not happy with this conclusion,” Beattie wrote, according to the Des Moines Register. “This Court should not be able to make a difference in elections and Ms Finkenhauer and her supporters should have the opportunity to advance her candidacy,” he added. “However, the job of this Court is to sit as an arbitrator and enforce the law without passion or prejudice. It is necessary to govern without taking into account the politics of the day “. Iowa MP Abby Finkenauer failed to submit an application with several signatures after two Republicans challenged them. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / Bloomberg via Getty Images Finkenauer, like all U.S. Senate candidates, had to collect 3,500 signatures by law, including at least 100 signatures in each of at least 19 counties. Her campaign submitted more than 5,000 signatures, and the state committee ruled that it barely met the county requirement, collecting exactly 100 signatures from one county and 101 each from two other counties, according to the newspaper Cedar Rapids. Spokesman Abby Finkenauer would challenge incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley for his position.AP Photo / Andrew Harnik But Beattie found that three signatures did not include the date, with the result that the candidate did not meet the 19 county requirement. Finkenauer, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives before being narrowly defeated by Republican Ashley Hinson in 2020, has said she will appeal against Beatty’s decision. “Our campaign submitted more than 5,000 signatures, 1,500 more signatures than are required to qualify on the ballot. “We are confident that we have met the conditions to be on the ballot,” her campaign said in a statement. Polk County District Judge Scott Beattie agreed that Abby Finkenauer did not have enough signatures to get on the ballot. Iowa Judicial Division “This misguided, midnight decision is an outrageous and partisan gift to the Republicans of Washington who orchestrated this unjust legal action. “We are investigating all our options to crack down on this unjust partisan attack and to ensure that the voices of the Iowans are heard at the ballot box,” the statement said. If Finkenauer appeals, the Iowa Supreme Court will have until April 15 to rule, because then the Secretary of State’s office must finalize the ballots so that they can be printed and sent to Iowa Army servicemen in abroad. Currently, the only two Democratic candidates are retired Navy Admiral and former Ted Kennedy aide Michael Franken and Iowa Democratic Party Rural Group Chairman Glenn Hurst. Grassley is being challenged in the Republican primary by state Sen. Jim Carlin. With Post cables
