Bob Krause, a Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Charles Grassley, announced Sunday he is withdrawing from the Democratic primary election to be held on June 7. Krause said he was blindsided by the impact that the COVID 19 pandemic had on nomination petition signature gathering at the Iowa Precinct Caucuses.
“I need 3,500 signatures with at least 100 signatures from at least 19 counties. And, to be safe, I needed an additional two to three hundred signatures as a safety for people who may have signed petitions twice or in the wrong county,” said Krause.
“However, when the first caucus signature packets came in and were counted, I only had 1,400 and change, which left me with a shortfall of between 2,100 and 2,400 signatures. Although I am very grateful for the many people who put in extra effort around the state to increase these numbers, it was not enough,” he stated.
Krause pointed at the impact that COVID 19 had on precinct caucuses. “In the past, generating nomination petition signatures through the precinct caucuses has always generated an adequate number of signatures to qualify, and I anticipated that would be the case when the Iowa Democratic Party indicated initially that caucuses would be live and not Zoom.”
“However, the resurgeance of the COVID-19 pandemic before the precinct caucuses caused county parties to shift to Zoom caucuses where few or no signatures were gathered. For example, in heavily Democratic Johnson County, no signatures were initially collected. And in Polk County, comprising 15% of the state’s population, only 157 Democrats turned out to live caucuses and the rest were Zoom.. Many other counties followed the same pattern. Because I got into the race late, in October, shortly before the holiday season, my window to gather signatures on my own was just not long enough. Thus, the number of signatures required became insurmountable for me and forced my decision to withdraw.”
Krause was grateful for the support.
“I’d like to thank the many good people who worked with me during this campaign. And in light of what is happening in the United States now, my theme of #SaveDemocracyNOW still resonates. I will support the winner of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate as well as the Democratic ticket. I will also continue to make my voice heard to save democracy now from the fascism that is creeping into political life.”