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Joni Ernst

U.S. Senate · IA · Republicans · since 2021

also

Candidate for U.S. Senate · IA

Target Joni

Biography

Overview

Joni Ernst is a Republican U.S. Senator from Iowa serving since 2015. She is a retired lieutenant colonel from the Iowa Army National Guard with 23 years of military service, including a deployment to Kuwait during the Iraq War. Ernst previously served in the Iowa State Senate (2011-2014) and as Montgomery County Auditor (2005-2011). She was the first woman elected to represent Iowa in either house of Congress and announced in September 2025 that she would not seek reelection in 2026.

Career

Ernst was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 by 94,205 votes and reelected in 2020 by 110,138 votes. As vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference from 2018-2023 and chair from 2023-2025, she held a high-ranking leadership position in the Senate Republican caucus. She has authored legislation addressing agricultural trade standards, water management, manufacturing incentives, and criminal penalties for fentanyl distribution. She has also been active on military and defense issues, including efforts to address sexual assault in the military.

Prior political experience

Ernst was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Bruce Braley with a margin of 94,205 votes. She became the first woman elected to represent Iowa in either house of Congress. Ernst ran unopposed in the Republican primary that year. She was reelected in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee Theresa Greenfield by 110,138 votes. She ran unopposed in the 2020 Republican primary. On September 2, 2025, Ernst announced that she would not seek reelection in 2026.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress+0.537

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.032
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 662 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
2ndU.S. Senate IA Class 22021–presentIn progressJoni Ernst—
1stU.S. Senate IA Class 22015–2021Term ended—Joni Ernst

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
——Pending——