Shane Vander Hart

Shane Vander Hart

The Iowa Supreme Court's narrow ruling puts Finkenauer back on the ballot

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed Abby Finkenauer's removal from the Democratic U.S. Senate primary ballot due to conflicting statutory language.

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Shane Vander Hart
Apr 16, 2022
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Iowa Judicial Building in Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa Judicial Building in Des Moines, Iowa

On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court released its ruling on whether or not or not former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa, will be placed back on the Democratic U.S. Senate primary ballot. 

They reversed and remanded Polk County District Court Judge Scott Beattie's decision that I discussed earlier this week.

I received some feedback yesterday that assumed because the Iowa Supreme Court reversed the decision, they were being partisan.

No, just like Judge Beattie wasn't being partisan and just like the State Objection Board wasn't being partisan. All were good-faith decisions. The only one who is being partisan is the candidate in her response to it. 

X avatar for @Abby4Iowa
Abby Finkenauer@Abby4Iowa
In the dead of the night, a Republican judge made a partisan decision to kick me off of the ballot. Plain and simple: this decision lacks merit. It is a gift to Washington Republicans and makes a mockery of our democracy. We can't let them win—together, we MUST fight back.
8:12 PM · Apr 11, 2022

6.15K Reposts · 20.2K Likes
X avatar for @Abby4Iowa
Abby Finkenauer@Abby4Iowa
The GOP’s attempts to undermine ballot access and our election process were pathetic and desperate. Today they lost. With a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, we're still in this fight and we WILL beat Chuck Grassley in November. It's a good day for our democracy.
5:40 PM · Apr 15, 2022

4.33K Reposts · 19.1K Likes

The Iowa Supreme Court called Judge Beattie's ruling "carefully considered." 

Also, it is important to point out that every member of the Iowa Supreme Court, minus Justice Brent Appel, was appointed by Republican Governors Terry Branstad or Kim Reynolds. 

There is an issue with the law. There is statutory language in conflict. 

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