So Abby Finkenauer is off the primary ballot.

[progressoid]

Judge Scott Beattie ruled on April 10 that the State Objection Panel used the wrong legal standard when it counted signatures with missing or incorrect dates. Consequently, the court found, Finkenauer’s campaign “has failed to submit at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties” as required by Iowa law.

...

The Attorney General’s office has not confirmed whether the state will appeal, but that seems likely, based on how it defends other lawsuits against state entities.

Plaintiffs Kim Schmett and Leanne Pellett challenged one signature from Allamakee County, where a voter had listed the zip code instead of the date, and two signatures from Cedar County: one with no date, and another apparently dated “6-6” instead of “2-6.”

Judge Beattie’s opinion rejected the state’s argument that the State Objection Panel’s decisions are not reviewable under the Iowa Administrative Procedure Act, “as the Panel is not an agency” under the relevant code chapter.

The court also rejected an argument the Finkenauer campaign raised as an intervenor in the case: that Schmett and Pellett lacked standing to bring the suit, since registered Republicans can’t vote in Iowa Democratic primaries.

read more...https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2022/04/11/judge-rules-abby-finkenauer-should-be-off-primary-ballot/

[exboyfil]

1. I haven't been keeping up

Why did she go in with so few signatures? It seems pretty basic to ensure that you have far more than you need.

[progressoid]

2. That is a mystery.

Bleeding Heartland did a story about this very question recently.

How could this happen?

...WHY CAMPAIGNS ALWAYS COLLECT EXTRA SIGNATURES

Ask any experienced campaign staffer: you always want to submit far more signatures on nominating petitions than the law requires. Inevitably, some signatures will be struck because they are duplicates, or because the voter made a mistake like signing a petition for the wrong county.

...Finkenauer’s staff didn’t respond to several messages over the past week seeking to clarify why they left themselves so vulnerable to an objection.

Adding to the mystery, the Democratic front-runner turned in her petitions on March 10, eight days before the deadline for submitting nominating papers to the Secretary of State’s office. Why wouldn’t the campaign spend that last week padding their totals in counties where they were barely over the line?

One theory I’ve heard: the candidate and her staff misunderstood the legal requirements. The election law Republicans enacted in 2021 more than doubled the mandatory signatures for U.S. Senate candidates (from 1,500 total signatures from residents of at least ten counties to 3,500 signatures including at least 100 from nineteen counties).

Although Iowa Code and the Secretary of State’s primary candidate guide spelled out the new requirements, it’s possible Finkenauer’s staff thought they needed to meet the same threshold as other statewide candidates: 2,500 signatures including 77 from at least eighteen counties. If you were shooting for 77, then having a bunch of counties just over 100 signatures would look like a safe margin.

https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2022/04/03/how-could-this-happen/

She's got almost 2 million dollars and seven paid staffers. Somebody seriously screwed up.

[IA8IT]

3. No lesson learned from Greenfield disaster I guess. Face Palm. Damn

[progressoid]

4. That was my first thought too. n/t

[Bettie]

5. Do we know if Franken and Hurst

got enough signatures? Or will there be no Democratic senate candidate?

[Bettie]

6. Looked it up

Both Franken and Hurst have enough signatures to proceed.

[exboyfil]

7. I think Franken would be a better match up candidate

than Finkenauer. He would have stood a better chance against Ernst, but the Democratic powers that be decided to back another horse instead.

[IA8IT]

8. Yes Yes Yes and would have been a WAY better choice against Ernst.

[rsdsharp]

9. Ernst isn't running. Grassley is up for re-election.

Frankly, it doesn’t matter who runs against him. This state will elect “Chuck” or his corpse.

[exboyfil]

10. She did two years ago

That is what I am referring to. Franken entered race late when it was decided to go forward with a different candidate. I thought the Democratic candidate left a lot to be desired in terms of experience.

[progressoid]

11. She's appealing the decision. n/t

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Abby Finkenauer is back on the ballot for the Iowa Senate race

Link to tweet