Abby Lea Finkenauer (born December 27, 1988) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Iowa's 1st congressional district 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 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 in 2022. Biden Administration On December 1, 2022, Finkenauer was appointed United States Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues. Early life and education Finkenauer grew up in Sherrill, Iowa. Her father is a welder and her mother works at a public school. She graduated from Hempstead High School in Dubuque. In 2011, Finkenauer graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a bachelor's degree in public relations. Career In 2006, Finkenauer was a page for U.S. Representative Jim Nussle, a Republican who represented Northeast Iowa in Congress. The following year, after Nussle ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Iowa, 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 Todd Taylor and communications specialist for the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. Iowa House of Representatives Murphy gave up his seat in 2014 to make an unsuccessful run for Congress, and Finkenauer ran for Murphy's old seat 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 Iowa's 1st congressional district, which was held by Republican and Dubuque resident Rod Blum. 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