Rep. Dave Loebsack and State Senator Joe Seng
DES MOINES, IOWA -- It appears that there will be a primary in the 2nd Congressional District after all.
Joe M. Seng, a long time state senator from Davenport filed the necessary paperwork on March 16 to challenge Democratic incumbent Dave Loebsack in the June primary.
However, dozens of the signatures turned in by Seng as part of his nominating petition were called into question by an Iowa City attorney who filed a petition with the Secretary of State's Office to keep Seng off the ballot.
Some of the questionable signatures were collected in Wapello County.
Click here to see the entire complaint, including the Ottumwa connection.
The petition was rejected Wednesday evening by a three-person panel including Secretary of State Matt Schultz and Attorney General Tom Miller.
In the end, the panel agreed that while some of the signatures were probably not valid, Seng would be given a spot on the June ballot anyway.
A representative from Shultz's office told KTVO this morning that the panel believed Seng made a good faith effort to collect enough signatures and that the panel wanted to error on the side of ballot access for as many candidates as possible.
The Loebsack campaign issued the following statement to KTVO through Political Director Brian Fritsch.
"Dave respects Joe Seng and his right to run for office. Dave is focused on growing the economy and creating jobs here in Iowa. He will continue to work hard to be the most effective voice for the people of Iowa."