IA-Sen: Buttigieg Backs Greenfield In Email To Iowa Voters

Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is weighing in on Iowa’s U.S. Senate race today with an email to supporters of Theresa Greenfield, calling her a “different kind of leader” who will help flip the Senate blue.

” … I know we’re ready for a different kind of leader — not just in the White House, but in the Senate, too,” Buttigieg says. “One who will fight to expand access to affordable health care, defend Social Security, and protect our unions. In Iowa, that leader is Theresa Greenfield.”

Though the email is not an official endorsement of Greenfield, it is the first time Buttigieg has publicly backed an Iowa candidate since narrowly winning the tumultuous caucuses earlier this year. After exiting the presidential race March 1, Buttigieg created Win the Era PAC to support down-ballot candidates “who we believe embody our values and deserve your consideration.” The group is expected to endorse candidates this cycle but has yet to do so.

“I’ve made it my mission to help win the era — that means fighting for progress in every state at every level,” Buttigieg says in the email to Greenfield supporters. “Flipping the Senate is crucial to that fight, and electing Theresa is personal to me. I spent the past year getting to know Iowans in the most rural parts of the state, in small town diners, and big cities. No matter where I went, they told me they were ready for change. Ready for someone to work for our families, not corporate special interests.”

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The email notes Greenfield isn’t “taking a dime of corporate PAC money” and relies on an average contribution of $18.

“I know what it’s like to beat the odds and win Iowa,” Buttigieg says. “Now, I want to help Theresa do the same.”

Greenfield is one of five Democrats competing in the June 2 primary for a chance to take on Sen. Joni Ernst in November. She dwarfs the field in fundraising, bringing in about $3.3 million in 2019 and $2.3 million in the first three months of 2020.

Most election watchers put Iowa’s Senate race in the second tier of pick-up opportunities, behind Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine. Last month, the Cook Political Report downgraded Ernst’s seat from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican,” and on Politico Monday, Iowa was named “one of the most important races, with both parties investing heavily in a state that would widen Democrats’ path to the majority.”

By Elizabeth Meyer
Posted 4/22/20

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