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Campaign Almanac: Deidre DeJear makes Iowa history in filing candidate paperwork
Also, Mike Franken’s Senate campaign resubmits signatures after issues with its first batch
Mar. 15, 2022 3:38 pm
DES MOINES — She became emotional inside the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. And shortly after, Deidre DeJear beamed about making history.
DeJear, the likely Democratic candidate for Iowa governor, filed her nominating signatures Tuesday at the Iowa Capitol, officially putting her on the ballot for the 2022 elections.
DeJear becomes the first Black woman in Iowa’s history to be the Democratic or Republican candidate for governor.
“We just made history,” DeJear told the roughly two dozen supporters who gathered at the Capitol for the occasion. “But it’s the type of history that outlines the possibilities. …
“We’re seeking to run for this office because we want to see change happen.”
No other Democrat is actively campaigning for governor. DeJear would face Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in this fall’s election.
DeJear’s campaign submitted roughly 6,600 signatures Tuesday.
Candidates for governor are required to submit at least 3,500 signatures, including at least 100 from at least 19 counties.
Reynolds submitted more than 16,000 signatures last week.
“Us submitting these papers is less about me and more about where we’re going,” DeJear told her supporters.
FRANKEN REFILES: Mike Franken’s campaign resubmitted nominating signatures this week after an error was caught in the first batch of signatures that the campaign submitted March 9.
Franken is among the Democrats running for U.S. Senate in Iowa.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, some of the Franken campaign’s forms were not properly completed, which could have negated the nominating signatures on those pages. The office notified the Franken campaign, which collected more signatures and filed them this week, presumably putting Franken on the ballot.
Franken, a U.S. Navy veteran from Sioux City, is one of three candidates vying to earn the Democrats’ nomination in the U.S. Senate race. The others are former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids and Minden physician Glenn Hurst.
Longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley faces a primary challenge from Sioux City lawyer and state Sen. Jim Carlin.
REPUBLICANS BACK PATE: All of Iowa’s top elected Republicans announced their support of Secretary of State Paul Pate, the state’s top elections official.
Pate’s campaign announced the endorsements from Republican U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra, Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig. Former Gov. Terry Branstad also joined the list of endorsers.
“As a former county auditor who ran elections at the local level in Iowa, I know firsthand the importance of maintaining the security and integrity of our election system,” Ernst said in a news release from the Pate campaign. “And thanks to Secretary Pate’s work and leadership through efforts like voter ID, he has done exactly that.”
UNIONS ENDORSE FINKENAUER: The Iowa chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Fort Madison chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers endorsed Abby Finkenauer’s campaign for U.S. Senate.
A former congresswoman and state legislator from Cedar Rapids, Finkenauer is one of three Democrats vying for the party’s nomination in the U.S. Senate campaign. The others are Mike Franken of Sioux City, a retired admiral, and Minden physician Glenn Hurst.
“Rep. Finkenauer has a long history of support for labor unions, and workers’ issues have always been a priority for her both in the Iowa House of Representatives and in Congress,” UFCW Local 617 President Robert Cale said in a news release from the Finkenauer campaign.
“As Iowa communities continue to battle COVID-19, we need strong leaders in Congress who will put our workers and families first, and we know that Rep. Finkenauer will be the kind of leader that Iowa needs in the U.S. Senate.”
Gazette Des Moines Bureau