The court’s decision makes Fincanauer the Democratic front-runner in the primary. The winner of that race will face longtime Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in November.
Polk County District Judge Scott Beatty ruled earlier this week that Fincanauer’s name “will not be included in the primary ballot for the Democratic primary for the US Senate” due to questions about signatures obtained in the two counties. The Fincanauer campaign appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
“We reverse the decision of the district court and direct that the petition be dismissed,” the Supreme Court ruling said.
Iowa judges said the state’s election law — which includes statutes that focused on candidates qualifying for the ballot, as amended last year — doesn’t include missing dates as reasons that excluded signatures. should go.
“The signing date may help verify the petition if the signer was only an eligible voter for the time period during which the petition was being circulated, but it is difficult to see why it matters in any other context.” ”, the court said in its decision.
Six of the seven court judges agreed with the decision. The seventh agreed only with its outcome, and filed a separate consent.
The court made a swift decision, early voting was only weeks away and clerks needed time to mail ballots to foreign voters.
Finkenauer celebrated the verdict on Friday.
“The Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today confirmed that we are right on the law, and we will be on the ballot for the US Senate,” she said. “This is a moment for all advocates of democracy – Democrats, Republicans and independents – to celebrate the enduring strength of our democratic process and a reminder to never take it lightly.”
A pair of Republicans challenged Fincanauer’s candidacy, arguing that she fell short of the state’s signature requirement—3,500 valid signatures, including at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties—because three There were no dates in the signatures.
The Iowa Objection Panel, a three-member board that includes the Democratic State Attorney General and Auditor and the Republican Secretary of State, voted 2-1 on party lines to put Fincanauer on the ballot. But late Sunday, Judge Scott Beatty, appointed by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, ruled that she had fallen short of state requirements and could not appear on the primary ballot.
The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on Wednesday. Fincanauer’s lawyer argued that state law does not require candidates to be removed from the ballot if the dates accompanying the signature are missing.
Finkenauer, a former Congresswoman from Cedar Rapids, was among the first women elected to the US House from Iowa, winning the 2018 election along with Democrat Cindy Axane. She became the second youngest woman elected to the House in history when she won at the age of 29. She lost to Republican Ashley Hinson two years later.
Finkenauer is the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination in the primary that also includes retired Navy Admiral Mike Franken, who ran for the state’s other US Senate seat in 2020, and Glenn Hurst, a member of the Minden City Council. But the primary winner would be a long shot against Grassley, who was first elected to the Senate in 1980. Iowa, once a presidential battleground, has shifted to the right in recent election cycles.