Greenfield sidelined in Iowa after staffers come in contact with person who tested positive for coronavirus

Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield is suspending her upcoming events in the race after staffers on her campaign came into contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Sam Newton, Greenfield’s communications director, said that the campaign is hitting pause on its RV tour of Iowa and that Greenfield had recently tested negative for the virus.

“We’ve learned that some members of our campaign came into contact with someone last week who subsequently tested positive for coronavirus. While masks and social distancing measures are required at all of our in-person events, our campaign is temporarily pausing our RV tour, including today’s events, at the advice of medical professionals in order to take appropriate precautions to ensure we protect the health and safety of Iowans and our team,” he said in a statement. 

“Theresa regularly gets tested for COVID-19 and recently tested negative, but she’s getting tested again to be safe. She is eager to get back on her GOTV tour once we get test results and we’re absolutely certain it’s safe to do so, which is hopefully very soon,” he continued.

The suspension of Greenfield’s upcoming events takes her off the trail in the final six-day sprint to Election Day in one of the nation’s marquee Senate contests. She had been scheduled to visit Webster County, Carroll County, Buena Vista County and Woodbury County Wednesday to hold events on small businesses as part of her get out the vote tour.

Greenfield is running to unseat first-term Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the second-most expensive Senate race in the country. Polls have shown a tight race in the Hawkeye State, and prognosticators have said the result of the Iowa Senate race could determine control of the Senate in the next Congress.

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