A Month away from June Primaries, Democratic Senate Candidates Glenn Hurst, Former Congresswoman Abby Finkenaur, and Micheal Franken attempted to differentiate themselves before voters go to the polls.
Some of the questions posed by KCCI journalists throughout the night, who put on the debate, dealt with Abortion, Inflation, and current Senator and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley.
“I would absolutely support codifying Roe V. Wade, I’ve said over and over again that I would be willing to write the law and or introduce it into the U.S. Senate.” said Democratic Senate Candidate Glenn Hurst, describing the current filibuster as “Archaic.”
Hurst has been endorsed by progressive and anti-police group Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement for his run.
Stakes were highest for former one-term congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, who is desperate to revive her struggling campaign. During the debate, she advocated for the disbandment of the filibuster to push a broader abortion access policy.
“If you are a supreme court justice you do not belong in my doctor’s office, what is happening here is horrifying because of the fact that we have a current United States Senator for five decades and held up the appointment for Merrick Garland literally leading to this U.S supreme court,” said Finkenauer
“We must need a progressive candidate who pushes for medicare for all, who’s going to push for student loan forgiveness, who’s going to support the green new deal, and that’s the way we win this race,” said Hurst highlighting the overall progressive vibes that permeated throughout the night.
On the topic of Senator Grassly, Hurst tried to convince viewers Republicans were scared of him.
“I cast aside the money issue, that’s never been an issue in an Iowan election for when you’re running for such an important thing – I am the worst nightmare for the GOP,” asserted Micheal Frank(D) on Grassley’s huge financial advantage on all of the Senate candidates running for the incumbent’s seat.
After the debate, the Iowa GOP issued the following statement.
“Iowans know these candidates don’t have the spine to stand up to Joe Biden and their national party. As inflation continues to skyrocket, the crisis at the border gets worse, and the future of our country looks more and more bleak, these Democrats’ only solution is to continue down the path toward socialism,” said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann.
