It shouldn’t be hard to collect nominating signatures

The fact that so many candidates skated under the wire when submitting nomination petitions is puzzling. They include Attorney General Tom Miller, who has been through this many times before. He and U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer certainly have campaign databases. It almost seemed as if they were trying to get the bare minimum number of signatures needed.

They could spit out a list of voters by county. Send out letters to contributors saying, "Thank you for your financial support. I'll be coming to your county soon and would like to meet you for coffee. I won't be asking for money. I just need your help getting the necessary signatures to be on the ballot."

How hard could that be? The fact the candidates aren't willing to do something like this in person makes me wonder if they're spending more time dealing with their campaign staff than the folks who will actually be making the difference on Election Day.

Art Hackett

Cedar Rapids