Abby Lea Finkenauer (born December 27, 1988) is an American politician who served as the United States Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues within the U.S. Department of State from 2022 to 2025. Finkenauer previously served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Iowa's 1st congressional district Iowa's 1st congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southeastern part, bordering the states of Illinois and Missouri, and the Mississippi River. ...

from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before being elected to Congress, Finkenauer served in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

for the 99th district from 2015 to 2019. On November 6, 2018, Finkenauer and fellow Democrat Cindy Axne became the first women from Iowa elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Finkenauer also became the second-youngest woman to ever be elected to the U.S. House. She lost reelection in 2020 and lost a primary election for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Early life and education

Finkenauer grew up in Sherrill, Iowa. She graduated from Hempstead High School in

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. In 2011, Finkenauer graduated from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, with a bachelor's degree in public relations.

Career

In 2006, Finkenauer was a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

for

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Jim Nussle James Allen Nussle (born June 27, 1960) is an American businessman and retired politician who has been president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union National Association from 2014 to 2024 and of its successor group America's Credit U ...

, a Republican who represented Northeast Iowa in Congress. The following year, after Nussle ran unsuccessfully for

Governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, Finkenauer was a page for Patrick Murphy, the Democratic Speaker of the Iowa State House of Representatives. In 2007, Finkenauer was the Iowa volunteer coordinator for the Joe Biden presidential campaign. She was later legislative aide for Democratic

state Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Todd Taylor and communications specialist for the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.

Iowa House of Representatives

Finkenauer ran for Murphy's old seat in 2014 and won. In the Democratic primary, Finkenauer defeated defense attorney Steve Drahozal, receiving 57.8% of the vote. In the general election, she faced lawyer Daniel Dlouhy and defeated him, receiving 60.8% of the vote. She was 25 when first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives. She was unopposed for reelection in 2016.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In May 2017, Finkenauer announced her candidacy for

, which was held by Republican and Dubuque resident

Rod Blum Rodney Leland Blum (; born April 26, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Iowa's 1st congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republic ...

. Blum had unexpectedly defeated her former boss, Murphy, in 2014. On June 5, 2018, she won the Democratic primary, defeating former congressional staffer Thomas Heckroth, engineer Courtney Rowe and retired military officer George Ramsey. She received 66.9% of the vote. As of September 2018, her race was classified as Lean Democratic or Tilt Democratic by 3 major rating firms. On October 1, 2018, former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

endorsed Finkenauer. She defeated Blum by 16,900 votes.

2020

In 2020, Finkenauer ran again without any Democratic primary opposition. She was defeated in the general election by Republican state Representatives

Ashley Hinson Ashley Elizabeth Hinson (born June 27, 1983) is an American politician and journalist serving as the U.S. representative for Iowa's 2nd congressional district since 2021. The district, numbered as the 1st district during her first term, cove ...

, by 10,741 votes.

Tenure

Finkenauer and Cindy Axne, elected in 2018 to represent

Iowa's 3rd congressional district Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines, Iowa, Des ...

, became the first women to represent Iowa in the U.S. House. She is the second youngest woman ever elected to the House, being about ten months older than fellow 2018 freshman

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

; Finkenauer turned 30 a week before being sworn in on January 3, 2019. Finkenauer also served in House Leadership as an assistant whip during the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...

Committee assignments

* Committee on Small Business ** Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development ** Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship (Chair) * Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure ** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit (Vice Chair) ** Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues * Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus * Future Forum Caucus (Vice Chair) * Congressional Endometriosis Caucus (Co-Chair)

2022 U.S. Senate campaign

On July 22, 2021, Finkenauer announced her candidacy in the Democratic primary for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Iowa, for the seat held by

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...

. On April 11, 2022, a judge ruled that she was ineligible for the Democratic primary because her nominating petitions did not have enough verified signatures. Finkenauer said she would appeal the ruling, and four days later on April 15, the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

unanimously reversed the decision and allowed Finkenauer to appear on the primary ballot. Michael Franken, a retired

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, defeated Finkenauer in the primary election. The ''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' called Franken's victory an upset, as Finkenauer had been the perceived front-runner.

Biden administration

On November 21, 2022, Finkenauer was appointed the

United States Special Envoy Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the United States' diplomat, diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as Ambassador-at-la ...

for Global Youth Issues. She took office on December 1, 2022, and has completed numerous international visits on behalf of the United States, including to Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, and Thailand. She participated in the

Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, also known as YSEALI (pronounced ), is a highly-competitive cultural exchange program for Southeast Asian emerging leaders sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. YSEALI progr ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

from May 1 to 5, 2023.

Electoral history

2014

2018

2020

Personal life

Finkenauer married Daniel Wasta, the Iowa Political Director for the

Elizabeth Warren 2020 presidential campaign The 2020 presidential campaign of Elizabeth Warren was a campaign from the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Massachusetts. It began with Warren's formal announcement on February 9, ...

, on August 8, 2020. Finkenauer has discussed her experiences with

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

and has worked to pass an amendment that would double endometriosis research funding. She is the founder of the Congressional Endometriosis Caucus. Finkenauer is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

References

External links

*
Member profile
at the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repre ...

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkenauer, Abby 1988 births 21st-century American diplomats 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Roman Catholics Women diplomats for the United States Biden administration personnel Catholic politicians from Iowa Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Drake University alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Politicians from Dubuque, Iowa United States special envoys Women state legislators in Iowa 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly

Early life and education

Career

Iowa House of Representatives

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

2020

Tenure

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

2022 U.S. Senate campaign

Biden administration

Electoral history

2014

2018

2020

Personal life

See also

References

External links