Dear Abby, You've Been Served

 A judge in Polk County has done what the Republican Party and its lawyer, Alan Ostergren, wanted. Judge Scott Beattie, a 2018 appointee of Gov. Kim Reynolds, has ruled that former Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer can not be on the Democratic primary ballot for the US Senate, overruling the state board that ruled differently. Thanks to a change in the rules about what makes a candidate qualified passed by the Republican legislature in 2021, Finkenauer needed to have 100 eligible signatures from at least 19 Iowa counties by the deadline date, something that the other two candidates Michael Franken and Glenn Hurst cleared the bar of (or at least were not challenged about). Due to missing or incorrect dates in at least 2 counties which cost the campaign the needed required signatures, Finkenauer's ruled ineligible petitions disqualify her name from appearing on the primary ballot.

Barring the Iowa Supreme Court intervening quickly or an unprecedented write-in campaign (such as a primary version of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's unlikely re-election bid), this ruling almost assures that Finkenauer's campaign for the US Senate has been scuttled. In the meanwhile, the Republicans pat each other on the back and say "the rules are the rules" (because they revised them). The Democrats, once again, are put on the defensive as they have to find a way to spin a seemingly rookie mistake of not collecting more than enough valid signatures for the "front-running" candidate who was beginning to make a dent in the lead of the long-time incumbent in the Senate race. 

While it is true that Team Finkenauer fumbled, the fact that she is not likely to be on the ballot serves to tell Iowans to what length Republicans will go to preserve their current lock on this state's politics. While it is considered better to hate the game and not the players (even when the players are also the rule makers), in this case, the opposition played for keeps. Just as they did in the 2nd Congressional District vote recount that enabled Rep. Miller-Meeks to be elected by 6 votes, they lawyered up and used the rules to their advantage. The lesson to every non-Republican running for statewide, local, or federal offices should now be--don't leave room for a squeaker. In this case, if you fail, you may not make it to the starting line.