Iowa Democrat Cindy Axne ‘Eyeing a Run’ for Higher Office

Iowa Democrat Rep. Cindy Axne is “eyeing a run” for higher office and has confirmed that her first choice is to challenge incumbent Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Axne is a Democrat Congresswoman from the Third Congressional District in Iowa. She is the only Democrat who is a part of the congressional delegation from Iowa.

The Storm Laske Times reported, “Axne is eyeing a run for the U.S. Senate or Iowa Governor and her Congressional seat — in that order” as she plans to “take a minute.” While Axne looks at her options for 2022, she will be running against an incumbent Republican for both Senate or Governor.

As a two-term Congresswoman, according to Ballotpedia, Axne only won her reelection by approximately 1.4 percent of votes and her first term in 2018 by only 2.2 percent, which she defeated former Rep. David Young (R-IA).

The Storm Lake Times reported Grassley declined to speculate whether he would run for another turn last week. He said, “I haven’t made up my mind yet.” Grassley also considers himself to be in good health.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to seek reelection for a second term in 2022.

Grassley is currently a seven-time Senate incumbent who has been in office continuously since 1959. In the last three elections, he garnished 60.1 percent of the vote in 2016, 64.6 percent in 2010, and 70.2 percent in 2004, according to Ballotpedia.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has attacked Axne on multiple opportunities. Most recently, the NRCC went after Axne for staying silent when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tried to overturn one of her fellow Iowan’s seats in a state-certified election after an additional recount. Multiple vulnerable Democrats started to defect from Pelosi as the efforts increased.

Instead of standing up to Pelosi and supporting the state-certified election, Axne’s office issued the exact same statement for nearly four months. Last month, Breitbart News reached out to Axne’s office to ask for a new statement on the latest developments at the time, and Breitbart News never received a new comment.

The ad the NRCC released about Axne ran on radio stations in Axne’s Iowa Third Congressional District, which emphasized her support for overturning the certified election in Iowa’s Second Congressional District that was won by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) by six votes.

NRCC Spokesman Mike Berg said in a press release, “Cindy Axne is eyeing the exit because she knows House Democrats will soon be in the minority.”

The press release also mentioned, “Axne is the latest Democrat to eye the exits as Democrats try to defend their historically thin majority.”

In March, the NRCC came out with an “Exit List,” highlighting Democrats who are “likely to retire or run for a different office in 2022.” Axne is on this list.