Abby Finkenauer calls Chuck Grassley ‘poster child’ for term limits

Former Iowa congresswoman and state lawmaker Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids says seven-term Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is “the poster child” for term limits.

Finkenauer this week pledged to serve just two terms if elected to the U.S. Senate in November and is calling for congressional term limits in Washington, D.C.

She is one of four Democrats running to unseat Grassley, and has made his longevity a focal point of her campaign.

"Forty-seven years in the United States Senate is too damn long for anybody,“ Finkenauer said in an interview with the Quad-City Times and Dispatch-Argus during a Tuesday stop in Davenport.

Finkenauer argued term limits are needed to help lessen the influence of special interest money spent supporting the re-election of career politicians and better allow for people with new ideas to solve the country's problems.

Finkenauer is calling for a 12-year term limit for each chamber of Congress: two terms in the Senate and six in the House.

“I didn't run for office so I could have a career in Washington spent cozying up to lobbyists or to get rich off the taxpayers' dime,” Finkenauer wrote in an open letter. “Two terms in the Senate would be more than enough for me, and it should be more than enough for anyone else too.”

Asked if that applied to Democrats, including President Joe Biden, whom Finkenauer endorsed early on and who will have eclipsed 47 years in elected office at the end of this White House term, Finkenauer said: “If Joe Biden was still in the United States Senate, I would say that's too dang long, and it's time for him to go.“

While in Congress, Finkenauer said she saw “a lot of folks, both Democrats and Republicans who have been there for decades, and I don't even think some of them know why they're still there,” and mentioned California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Grassley, 88, has served in the Senate since 1981 and is seeking an eighth term.

He marked 63 consecutive years in public office last week. Grassley was sworn into the Iowa House on Jan. 12, 1959, at the age of 25.

Grassley has voted for and reiterated his support for term limits in a conference call with Iowa reporters last week.

Finkenauer contends Grassley's support for term limits is insincere as he's refused to term limit himself. She added that his decades in Washington, D.C., have put him out of touch with working Iowa families.

Jennifer Heins, a senior adviser to Grassley's campaign, said in a statement that Finkenauer has been inconsistent in her support for term limits and is only supporting them now "to score political points."

Heins pointed to a September 2020 debate on Iowa Press in which Finkenauer said she did not think the U.S. Constitution should be changed to implement congressional term limits and highlighted the importance of experience when serving in Congress.

"The fact is, until the law is amended to require term limits, which Chuck Grassley supports, self-imposed term limits would do nothing but empower other states with more senior representation at the expense of Iowa," Heins said. "Iowans have two senators in leadership roles who deliver for our state due to their seniority and expertise. Abby Finkenauer is effectively advocating for an artificial cap on Iowa’s influence and power in Washington."

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report forecasts the Iowa Senate race outcome to be "solidly Republican."

A September Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed Grassley leading Finkenauer by 18 percentage points among likely voters in an early test of a possible 2022 Senate matchup.

Finkenauer, however, notes Grassley’s job approval rating was dipped to its lowest point since his first term in the U.S. Senate. Partially holding down Grassley’s overall approval number is his 71 percent approval rating among Iowa Republicans, nine points below fellow Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

Grassley also faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Sioux City attorney and state lawmaker Jim Carlin.

Grassley's job approval, though, remained a net positive in the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, with 45 percent of Iowa voters saying they approve of his job performance and 41 percent saying they disapprove.