Ernst Officially Announces She Won’t Seek Re-election

Senator Joni Ernst made it official on Tuesday – releasing a video statement to announce she will not seek re-election in 2026.

Ernst, who is 55, served in the Iowa National Guard, with a tour of duty in Iraq, and was the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate. She also served as Montgomery County’s Auditor and a state senator before running for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Ernst’s first grandchild was born in February of last year. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, was the valedictorian of her Stanton High School class and joined the ROTC when she was a student at Iowa State University.

Her 2014 campaign gained national attention after a campaign ad featured Ernst saying she grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm and her aim as a senator would be to force Washington to squeal by cutting wasteful spending, repealing ObamaCare and balancing the budget. After President Trump won re-election last November, Ernst formed a Senate “DOGE” task force and met with Trump and Elon Musk in Florida to discuss the effort.

Ernst has not revealed what her plans may be beyond January of 2027.

Chuck Grassley, Iowa’s senior senator, says Ernst broke barriers at every turn and accomplished what she set out to do. Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, says Iowa is better off because of Ernst’s leadership and the next generation of Republican leaders will continue building on her legacy. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion and Matt Whitaker, President Trump’s ambassador to NATO who ran in against Ernst in the 2014 primary, are both mentioned as potential candidates for Iowa’s senate seat.

Five Democrats are currently running for Iowa’s now open U.S. Senate seat. Zach Wahls is a state senator from Coralville; Josh Turek of Council Bluffs is a member of the Iowa House; Nathan Sage is the former executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and Jackie Norris is chair of the Des Moines School Board. And this morning Bob Krause ended his campaign in Iowa’s first congressional district and announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate.

Republicans Jim Carlin of Sergeant Bluff and Joshua Smith of Indianola announced earlier this year they intended to challenge Ernst in the 2026 GOP Primary.

story courtesy of Radio Iowa; photo courtesy of Senator Ernst’s Office