Rep.-elect Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) on Wednesday shared a photo of her parents walking into her new office on Capitol Hill one day before the incoming lawmaker is sworn in.
“I call this one: ‘A retired union pipefitter welder and retired public school secretary walk into their youngest daughter’s Congressional office,’ ” Finkenauer wrote on Twitter. “My first visitors.”
The Democrat from the Hawkeye State’s 1st Congressional District flipped a GOP House seat during November’s midterm election when she defeated Rep. Ron Blum (R).
{mosads}Finkenauer, 30, spoke frequently about her working class family during her campaign, telling the Des Moines Register in June about the holes in her father’s clothing, singed while working as a welder.
“He was literally burning his skin to make enough to feed our family and to ensure that we had what we needed,” she told the newspaper. “For me, it’s a reminder of where I’ve come from, and, now, the hard-working people who I represent.”
She also included her family in her campaign ad showcasing how Iowans are “tough.”
“Tough is my dad on a 16-hour shift,” Finkenauer said in the ad. “Tough is my mom holding down a job and holding it together back home. Tough is my grandpa rushing into burning buildings to save people’s lives.”