(Iowa) -- A district judge will rule by Sunday on a lawsuit asking to have Democrat Abby Finkenauer removed from the primary ballot in the race for the U.S. Senate.
Two republicans, Kim Schmett and Leanne Pellett, filed the lawsuit, saying a state panel's decision to reject their challenge to Finkenauer's nomination papers was wrongly decided.
The suit argues that Finkenauer did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but the state panel rejected their challenge on a party-line vote. The two Democrats on the three-member panel, State Auditor Rob Sand and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, voted against the challenge. The panel's one Republican, Secretary of State Paul Pate, voted for it. A hearing on the matter will start on Wednesday, and District Judge Scott Beattie says he will rule on the question by April 10th.
If Finkenauer wins the Democratic primary, she'd then run for the U.S. Senate Seat currently held by Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.