Looks like GOP senator won’t run again after pissing everyone off
The republican senator Joni Ernst de l’Iowa could go towards the exit. Several sources told CBS News And other points of sale that she is preparing to announce next Thursday that she will not ask for re -election in 2026, ending her race for two mandates in the Senate after a Disastrous meeting of the town hall in May that generated national titles.
Ernst, 55, was elusive For months about his plans, Even if she boasted That Iowa would remain a stronghold of the GOP and mock the growing list of Democrats wishing to challenge it.
“Each day, we get a new democratic member of the Chamber or the Senate who decides to present himself for this Senate seat-interrupting him,” she told the Westside Conservative Club earlier this month. “In the end, Iowa will be red.”
But behind the scenes, Ernst told the Allies that she had never planned to serve more than two terms and wanted to go to the private sector. She joined a series of republicans from the unfolding Senate before 2026, including the North Carolina Thom TillisAlabama Tommy Tubervilleand Kentucky Mitch McConnell. For a party faced with a likely blue waveHis departure leaves a vulnerable open seat and a lot of hand clritions.
Related | “ We are all going to die ”: the GOP senator severely rejects the fears of the voters
The Iowa Senate race is already crowded. Four Democrats announced that they work: the state senator Zach Wahls; The representative of the Josh Turek State; The Chairman of the School Board of Moines, Jackie Norris,; And the former director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Nathan Sage. Two republicans – the legislator of the state of trainers Jim CARLIN and perennial candidate Joshua Smith – also said campaigns.
THE Cook Political Report Always evaluates the “probably republican” siege, but the Democrats now have a better blow. Victories in recent special elections have shaken the GOP in Iowa. Tuesday, Democrat Catelin Drey won a seat in the deep red state Senate By 10 points, breaking the supermajority of the GOP. In January, Mike Zimmer returned a seat to the State Senate in a district that President Donald Trump carried by 21 percentage pointsand Democrat Angelina Ramirez won a house seat based in Cedar Rapids in April. The Republicans feel the pressure, and the exit of Ernst only adds to uncertainty.
The uncertainties around the political future of Ernst are not new. She drew a national contempt in May for her appearance to a town hall, where she rejected the concerns of the constituents concerning the cups of Medicaid leading to deaths by responding: “Well, We are all going to die. “”
After a return of flame, she doublemocking those who condemned his remark.
“I apologize,” she said sarcastically. “And I’m really, really happy not to raise the subject of the dental fairy as well.” Its floor highlighted the growing tensions between the right -law priorities and the daily concerns of voters, especially in a state where the Medicaid and Food Aid cuts will reach tens of thousands.
Even within his group, Ernst was exposed to a meticulous examination. Fund collection reports show She raised less In the second quarter of 2025, at the same time of his 2020 campaign. The Senate Republicans would have pressed him to run again, the leader of the majority, John Thune, telling a journalist that he “did everything I can to encourage him to present himself to the re -election”.
Ernst’s career has experienced a rapid rise: the roots of the small town of Iowa, the Tournations of the National Status of the Army in Kuwait and Iraq, election in the Senate in 2014, and a rise in the leadership n ° 3 n ° 3 at the Republican Conference. She even interviewed like a potential For Donald Trump in 2016. But his last years have been defined by blunders and loyalty tests rather than achievements.
Barely a few weeks ago, she told the Conservatives: “The Republicans will govern the day” in 2026. Too bad she was not there to see him. If Ernst bows, this leaves the republicans of Iowa to collect the pieces and to face a democratic party which is under tension by recent victories.
Indeed, for the Democrats of Iowa, the potential departure of Ernst is a gift, potentially transforming a red seat formerly secure into a real battlefield.
For Republicans, it is another warning that high-level pensions and the urge for voters could make the mid-term much more difficult than expected. Ernst may have built his career on loyalty to Trump and the conservative base of Iowa, but now she chooses the private sector of an exhausting campaign – and leaves her party to rush.
So long and good riddling.
