Greenfield to resume campaign events after she, staffers test negative for coronavirus

Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield will resume campaign events after she and a number of her staffers tested negative for the coronavirus. 

Greenfield hit pause on an RV tour of Iowa Wednesday after it came to the campaign’s attention that some staffers had come into contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus. Her campaign said that since it was made aware of the contact, Greenfield and the staffers in question have all taken tests and received negative results. 

Greenfield has tested negative twice this week.

“As a result and after consulting with medical experts, we’ve determined it’s safe to resume our RV tour by holding events and press availabilities that are outside, where masks and social distancing are required, among other precautions. Theresa is excited to start hitting the road again today, so she can keep outlining her vision to put Iowa first, while ensuring public health and safety remains our top priority,” said Sam Newton, the campaign’s communications director.

The negative test results come five days before Election Day, with Iowa’s Senate seat and the upper chamber’s majority up for grabs. The results will allow Greenfield to resume an RV tour across a state that puts a high premium on retail politics. Political candidates often tout their efforts in Iowa to visit all of its 99 counties before an election. 

Greenfield is challenging first-term Sen. Joni Ernst (R) in what has become the second most expensive Senate race in the country. Polls have shown Greenfield and Ernst running neck-and-neck, and with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate while defending several other seats, the Iowa race could decide which party controls the Senate. 

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the Iowa Senate race as a “toss-up.”