Campaign Almanac: Democrat Mike Franken launches new TV ad in U.S. Senate primary

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken’s second campaign ad is on television.

Titled “Monuments,” the ad shows various monuments in the Iowa and U.S. capitals, while Franken talks about the issues he hopes to fight for in the Senate.

“I’m running for the Senate to take on the big fights, from challenging drug and insurance companies with ‘Medicare for All’ to standing up for the environment, women’s rights and democracy at home and abroad,” Franken says in the ad.

Franken was the first Democrat to air campaign ads ahead of the June 7 primary.

Franken, a U.S. Navy veteran from Sioux City, is one of three Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in Iowa’s U.S. Senate campaign. The others are Abby Finkenauer, a former congresswoman from Cedar Rapids, and Glenn Hurst, a physician from Minden.

The Republican incumbent is U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who faces a primary challenge from Jim Carlin, an attorney and state senator from Sioux City.

FARM, BUSINESS GROUPS ENDORSE GRASSLEY: The political arms of the Iowa Farm Bureau and National Federation of Independent Business endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in Iowa’s U.S. Senate campaign.

“Sen. Grassley … has a record of strong support for issues important to farmers and rural Iowans,” Kriss Haglund, a Boone County farmer and chair of the Iowa Farm Bureau’s political arm, said in a news release. “He has been a leader in defending taxpayers, promoting biofuels and fighting back against burdensome government regulations.”

Grassley is running for an eighth six-year term in the U.S. Senate. He faces a primary challenge from Jim Carlin, an attorney and state senator from Sioux City.

“Sen. Chuck Grassley has been a strong small business supporter throughout his time in the U.S. Senate,” Matt Everson, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said in a news release. “Sen. Grassley understands the challenges small businesses are facing and has been a strong advocate in the Senate on the issues most important to them.”

Three Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate in the June primary. They are former congresswoman Abby Finkenauer from Cedar Rapids, U.S. Navy veteran Mike Franken from Sioux City, and physician Glenn Hurst from Minden.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau