Iowa City politicians endorse Democratic candidate Abby Finkenauer for Senate
After the Iowa Caucus on Monday, Former Rep. Abby Finkenauer announced new endorsements from Iowa City politicians.
Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer addresses the audience during Progress Iowa Corn Feed at The Newbo City Market in Cedar Rapids on July 14, 2019. 11 candidates came to speak with supporters and give speeches.
February 9, 2022
Democratic Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer announced endorsements from Iowa City political figures on Tuesday.
Local elected officials Iowa City Mayor Pro Tem Megan Alter, former Mayor Pro Tem Mazahir Salih, Iowa City Councilors Pauline Taylor and Shawn Harmsen, Iowa City Community School District member Charles Eastham, and Johnson County Supervisor Royceanne Porter are among those endorsing Finkenauer’s campaign.
Finkenauer also received endorsements from Iowa House District 89 Candidate Tony Currin, as well as Carpenters Union Rep. Royce Petersen and Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO President Greg Hearns.
“These outstanding Iowa City leaders agree that our families deserve a fighter who will finally deliver lower prescription drug costs, cheaper healthcare, and more good jobs to Iowa,” Finkenauer wrote in a press release.
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Finkenauer is the most prominent Democrat seeking the party’s nomination to challenge Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980. Democrats Glenn Hurst, Bob Krause and Mike Franken are also vying for the nomination, and Grassley is facing a Republican primary challenge from state Sen. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City.
Franken, who came in second to Theresa Greenfield in the 2020 Democratic Senate primary, has notched a few endorsements from current and former Linn County officials, including former Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker, as well as state senator from Ames Herman Quirmbach.
Finkenauer raised more than $900,000 in the last quarter of 2021, more than twice what Franken raised, at around $425,000.
“We are holding [Grassley] accountable for everything that he has done that has hurt us in the last 47 years, but also what he hasn’t done and folks, we have a heck of a lot more work to do,” Finkenauer said in a video presented on Monday at the virtual Johnson County Democratic caucus.
