Congresswoman Cindy Axne today told the Storm Lake Times that she wants to run for the Senate.
The Storm Lake Times reports that Rep. Cindy Axne, the sole Democrat in Iowa’s Congressional delegation, is “eyeing a run for the U.S. Senate or Iowa Governor and her Congressional seat—in that order.” #IASen #IAGovhttps://t.co/3cRKaZElEx
— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) April 13, 2021
From the article:
Axne, D-West Des Moines, told The Storm Lake Times she plans to “take a minute” to explore her options among Iowa’s choice posts, but the first seat she listed was Sen. Chuck Grassley’s seat, which the incumbent has indicated he intends to defend in 2022. Axne’s second choice was governor and the third was her own House seat, which covers the Des Moines metro and southwest Iowa.
“Yeah, I’d be interested in (Grassley’s) seat,” Axne said during a tour of farms throughout southwest Iowa on Friday.
A few minutes later, an Axne communications staffer tried to clarify that she didn’t have a preference about what she ran for.
This publication confused Cindy Axne’s making a list with some sort of new information about preference.
In fact, she never indicates preference in the entire piece or their whole interview.
She says very clearly, as she has for months, that all three options are on the table. https://t.co/pn6K4LcLao
— Ian Mariani (@ian_mariani) April 13, 2021
Congresswoman Cindy Axne, who is only a few months into her new term, was barely re-elected last year. Her race was one of the closest congressional races in the country. Although not the closest one in Iowa, Representative Axne didn’t even get 50% of the vote in the 2020 election. She squeaked out a victory with 48.9% of the vote. That’s a margin of just 1.39% over her opponent, former Congressman David Young.
If Democratic Party leaders in DC are behind Axne’s decision to run for the Senate, it could spell disaster for her campaign before it even begins. Democratic Leader and New York Senator Chuck Schumer is on a losing streak in Iowa with his last two handpicked candidates Theresa Greenfield & Patty Judge racking up landside losses.
Political handicappers are unanimous in their view that Chuck Grassley is almost guaranteed reelection. The Cook Political Report rates Iowa’s Republican-held US Senate seat as solid Republican. These ratings and Chuck Grassley’s election record make it highly likely that he would win.
While the Senator has not formally announced his intention to run for reelection, he has filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
