Poll: Democrat Abby Finkenauer Race in Dead Heat After Backing Impeachment

Abby-Finkenauer
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Freshman swing district Rep. Abby Finkenauer’s (D-IA) campaign has struck a dead heat since backing impeachment against President Donald Trump, according to a poll released Friday.

Harper Polling released a poll that found that Finkenauer is in a dead heat with Republican Ashley Hinson, an Iowa state representative.

Forty-four percent of likely voters in Iowa’s first district would pick Finkenauer, 40 percent would choose Hinson, and 15 percent are not sure whom to vote for in the election. Given that the poll has a 4.9 percent margin of error, the race is in a statistical tie.

The survey found that Hinson already has a substantial 82 percent support from Republicans and 71 percent support from conservatives.

The poll also found that a plurality of voters are less likely to back Finkenauer after learning about her vote to impeach the president.

Fifty-one percent of undecided voters are less likely to vote for the Iowa Democrat after hearint she voted to impeach Trump. Forty-eight percent are less likely to vote for Finkenauer after hearing she voted with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 90 percent of the time.

The Harper Polling survey found that Hinson’s voting record and history resonated with voters.

Sixty-seven percent of voters said that they were more likely to vote for Hinson after hearing that the state representative worked to improve access to rural hospitals, secured funding for women’s health centers, and that she pledged to fight to lower prescription drug costs.

Fifty percent of Iowans said that they were more likely to vote for Hinson after learning that she also served as a news reporter for KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she reported on the rising cost of health care, flooding in Iowa, and other issues facing eastern Iowa.

The survey also found that after hearing about Hinson’s record, the Iowa Republican beats Finkenauer by eight points (48-40 percent), which serves as a 12 percent swing from the initial ballot.

On top of voting to impeach the president, Rep. Finkenauer voted with Democrats on Thursday to reject a Republican amendment that would have banned illegal immigrants from working with labor unions.

One senior House GOP aide told Breitbart News that the Democrats’ rejection of the Republican motion to recommit shows how they fail to put American workers before illegal immigrants.

“It’s appalling that Democrats have once again refused to put American workers first. Their far-left vote today shows their unwillingness to support even commonsense measures to protect American citizens from being undercut by illegal immigration,” the House aide told Breitbart News.

Harper Polling conducted the survey for the Future Leaders Fund by polling 400 likely voters in Iowa’s first district. The poll was completed between January 11 and 12 and has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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