IOWA CITY, Iowa — A Republican congresswoman-elect who flipped an Iowa seat in last week's election said Thursday that she tested positive for the coronavirus.
Ashley Hinson, a state representative and former television news anchor, said she learned of her positive test Wednesday night.
Her campaign said in a statement that Hinson, 37, feels great and is quarantining with her family at her home in Marion. Hinson plans to speak with reporters on a conference call Friday and will attend an orientation for incoming members of Congress virtually, her campaign said.
Hinson unseated first-term Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer in Iowa's 1st Congressional District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo and other cities and towns in the state's northeast. Hinson received 51.3% of the vote, defeating Finkenauer by about 11,000 votes out of 413,000 cast.
The district is one of the nation's worst coronavirus hot spots, with rapid community spread happening in Cedar Rapids and other cities and a huge outbreak at a state prison in Anamosa.
Campaign spokeswoman Annie Topp declined to comment when asked how Hinson, a married mother of two young children, may have contracted the virus. Referring to a brief statement, she said, "This is all the information we intend to make public."
Public health experts and Democrats have warned that Republican events attended by Hinson and other candidates during the final weeks of the campaign may have fueled the spread of the virus.
Hinson was often — but not always — seen wearing masks at those events when she was not speaking.
