ROOKE: Republicans Rally Around Rising Star In Senate Race. Let’s Not Get Too Excited Yet

The republican representative of Iowa, Ashley Hinson, announced Tuesday that she presented herself for the open headquarters of the Iowa Senate which left vacant after the long -standing republican senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, recently announced his decision to retire.

Hinson is quickly considered a rising star in the GOP, gathering two high -level mentions of the head of the majority of the Senate, John Thune and the president of the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), Tim Scott, as well as a laundry list of the heads of the Chamber and the GOP of the Senate supporting its campaign.

Despite a brief passage which earned him a baccalaureate in the arts in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California, Hinson is a born and high iowan. After university, she became a local journalist, married her husband, Matthew Arenholz, and had two children.

She joined the political world at the same time as President Donald Trump in 2016, with his successful race for the 67th district of the Iowa House of Representatives. Hinson went to a federal office by winning an American seat in 2020, representing the 1st district of the Iowa until redistribution moves it to the 2nd district in 2023. Now, she has her eyes on the American Senate.

Of all the accounts so far, the total weight of the GOP supports its campaign, which would make it run a breeze in the dark red state. However, she will need the support of the Maga base, and her assessment is somewhat confusing, but especially what voters expect.

Heritage Action for America provides conservative rankings to all members of the Congress according to their voting file. The dashboard gives Hinson a conservative score of 59% for the 118th congress, with an overall life note of 72%. The Hinson’s file for the last session of the Congress (118th) is remarkably weak, since it is from a state which votes approximately 6 percentage points more republican than the national average during the presidential elections, according to the partisan voting index of Cook (CPVI).

Update of the registration of Iowa voters
September

Since August 1
🟥Gop +633
🟦dem -77
* Net GOP gain + 700 *

Since 2024 election
🟥 GOP + 27.6K
🟦 Dem + 7.3K
* Net gop gain + 20.3k * pic.twitter.com/jygnpi5l59

– America First Insight (@Af_insight) September 3, 2025

Heritage quotes Hinson’s voting file on issues such as voting against HR 7888 (Reforming Intelligence and Seculing America Act), which would have guaranteed strong FISA reforms and the article 702 program. It voted to combine four massive spending invoices that sent billions of federal aid to Ukraine. She also voted for the law on the authorization of national defense of financial year 24 (NDAA), which provided federal funds for abortion, allowed sexual revision surgeries for members of the service and promoted the theory and diversity of critical racies, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the American army.

Hinson supported the former Wyoming representative, Liz Cheney, for the post of president of the House Republican Conference during a first challenge in February 2021, then supported the representative of New York, Elise Stefanik, the replacement of Cheney when Cheney was finally ousted in May 2021. (Register for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!))

I supported @Liz_cheney For the president of the conference and I am happy that she had a vote of confidence this evening.

That said, I am with the member of the Jordan Congress – we must be united to take over the majority to stop the radical program that Democrats are pursuing.

Make a donation: https://t.co/xvoeoxrrks https://t.co/p1t4uxnc9k

– Ashley Hinson (@hinsonashley) February 4, 2021

The hope of the Iowa Senate publicly admitted to having used Planned Parenthood Services for the health care of women at the start of its career, and said that “the government should remain outside women’s health care decisions”.

However, his voting file on pro-life issues is excellent. Despite his personal experience with Planned Parenthood Services, Hinson constantly supported efforts to finance the non -profit organization at the federal level, in particular the vote for bills related to the congress and the introduction of legislation such as the law on life in 2022, which aimed to redirect resources to alternatives such as pregnancy centers. She also co -paid the Life at Conception Act and supported the Iowa six -week abortion prohibition.

When his democratic opponent, the former senator of the state of Iowa, Liz Mathis, attacked Hinson on his pro-life position, Hinson replied in part: “I am shamelessly pro-life and I will continue to work to save as many lives as possible.” (JD Vance says he is ready to be president and the Democrats chose their frontrunner in 2028)

Hinson was a frequent criticism of border policies of the Biden administration, using it as an objective during his re -election campaign. On immigration, Hinson has a coherent voting file in favor of legislation aimed at improving border security, restricting illegal immigration and increasing implementing measures. His votes align with republican efforts to limit asylum complaints, finance deportation operations and impose more strict sanctions on immigration violations.

Iowans voted massively for President Trump’s first program’s first program – ending illegal immigration and preventing dangerous criminals and drugs from entering our communities, reducing unnecessary spending and triggering American energy. Throughout this process, I was proud of …

– Ashley Hinson (@repashleyhinson) May 22, 2025

In order to ensure that President Donald Trump’s policies are promulgated, it is not enough to have a majority of the GOP in both chambers. He will need Republican members who are ready to fight for these policies during the difficult legislative battles to come. And although Hinson’s story is a bit of a mixed bag, its current voting record shows that it is at least open to supporting Trump’s agenda.

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