Joni Ernst

US Senator

• Born: July 1, 1970
• Place of Birth: Red Oak, Iowa

Education: Iowa State University; Columbus State College

Significance: A combat veteran and former state legislator, Iowa’s Joni Ernst was elected to the US Senate in 2014. Ernst, the first woman to ever represent Iowa at the federal level, joined a wave of Republicans who brought their party a majority in both chambers of Congress.

Background

Joni Ernst was born on July 1, 1970, on her family farm in Red Oak, Iowa, in Montgomery County. Ernst worked on the farm until she entered Iowa State University on academic scholarships. In school, she joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), supporting the costs of her education. After she graduated in 1992, she joined the US Army Reserves as a second lieutenant and then earned her master’s degree in public administration at Columbus State College in 1995.

In 2003, Ernst assumed the role of company commander with the Army National Guard, leading 150 Iowa National Guardsmen in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She returned to the United States after this tour but remained an active lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard.

After returning to the United States, Ernst worked in human resources for Blue Cross/Blue Shield and as a career counselor. She and her family moved back to Iowa, where she began a career in public service. In 2004, she was elected as Montgomery County auditor and took office in 2005. She served in that position until 2011, while also becoming co-chair of the county’s Republican Party in 2006. She worked for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign beginning in 2011. That same year she was elected to the Iowa State Senate after a special election, and she was reelected in 2012. In 2013, Ernst announced her intention to campaign for the US Senate seat of long-serving Democrat Tom Harkin, who planned to retire.

Work in US Senate

Ernst’s Senate campaign in 2013 and 2014 brought her to national attention. She initially struggled to gain attention and fund-raising support in the Republican primary, which was dominated by businessman Mark Jacobs. However, a television advertisement run by her campaign went viral, bringing her widespread publicity in Iowa and across the country. The advertisement referenced Ernst’s childhood experience castrating hogs on her family farm, likening it to her promise to reduce government spending (an action known as "cutting pork"). The advertisement’s tagline, in which Ernst claimed she would make big-government advocates "squeal," became the campaign’s defining image. Ernst claimed the Republican nomination with 56 percent of the vote.

In the 2014 Iowa general election for the US Senate, Ernst faced Democratic nominee Bruce Braley. During the campaign, Ernst positioned herself as a mother, soldier, and champion of conservative values. She highlighted her still-active military service and leadership skills. Her campaign endeavored to portray her as a down-to-earth, everyday citizen with values similar to many rural Iowans, touting her farming background and work teaching her local Sunday school. Other elements of her platform included opposition to abortion, support for the right to bear arms (she was given a top rating by the National Rifle Association), and a reduced federal role in public administration. Ernst advocated for the elimination of such federal organizations as the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Education, and the Environmental Protection Agency, citing the costs of running such agencies and arguing that the states were better suited to manage such administrative matters. As with other Republicans, a major part of Ernst’s platform was her opposition to President Barack Obama’s policies, particularly the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.

Ernst gained significant support from national conservative groups and prominent Republicans from throughout the country, as the Republican Party viewed the Iowa Senate race as critical to gaining control of Congress. Her supporters included Iowa lieutenant governor Kim Reynolds, former presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Ernst’s and Braley’s campaigns spent more than $79 million combined in a close contest, with each candidate making significant use of attack advertisements against the other. Notably, Ernst’s team exploited comments by Braley that allegedly demeaned Iowa farmers, and polls showed the effects damaged Braley’s public standing.

The race was tight, but the final results of the November 2014 vote favored Ernst by a considerable margin. She defeated Braley with 52.2 percent of the vote to the Democrat’s 43.7 percent. Her victory made her the first woman to represent Iowa on the national level and the first female veteran in the Senate. Upon entering office, Ernst was assigned to four Senate committees—the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Shortly after being sworn in, she was chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech on January 20, 2015.

Impact

Joni Ernst quickly established herself as one of the rising stars of the Republican Party. As a woman and a veteran, she not only made history upon her election but has also been seen as a challenge to Democrats’ attempts to portray the Republican Party as opposed to many women’s issues. As a member of the wave of Republican legislators elected in 2014, she helped give the Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress, shifting the balance of power in US politics.

Ernst’s political ideology represented a strong contrast to President Obama’s policies, but she was a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, who was elected in 2016 and in office from 2017 to 2021. In 2018 and 2020, she was elected vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference, opposing abortion legislation, expressing skepticism toward climate change, and supporting open carry legislation. Notably, Earnest voted against President Trump's impeachment in 2020, voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and supported the $2 trillion relief package, the largest in the country's history.

In 2020, Ernst was narrowly re-elected and Trump lost re-election. Ernst was in the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, for certification of the election results when Trump supporters stormed the building to prevent the certification from continuing. She and other members of Congress were hustled from the chambers to safety when the mob breached the building. In an editorial, she denounced the actions of the mob, calling it anarchy. In the weeks that followed, she voted against impeaching Trump for his actions that day and earlier, when he insisted the election had been stolen and denied he had been defeated.

In February 2024, Ernst broke with most members of her party to vote for a $95 billion foreign aid bill. The package included $60 billion for Ukraine, which was fighting a Russian invasion that began in February 2022. A further $14 billion in military assistance was slated for Israel, which had been attacked by Hamas in October 2023. The package also included humanitarian assistance for Gaza and other places. Iowa's senior US Senator, Chuck Grassley, also voted for the foreign aid bill. The House eventually passed the bill in April.

Also in early 2024, Ernst announced she was throwing her hat into the ring in the race for Senate Republican Conference chair, the number-three position in party leadership, for the next session of Congress. She was up against Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. By this time, she was the number-four member of her party as Republican Policy Committee chair.

Personal Life

Joni Ernst is married to Gail Ernst, a former US Army Ranger. They officially reside in Red Oak, Iowa, with their daughter Libby.

Bibliography

"About Joni." Joni Ernst: United States Senator for Iowa, US Senate, 2015, www.ernst.senate.gov/about. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Everett, Burgess. "Ernst To Run Against Cotton For Senate GOP No. 3 This Fall." Politico, 11 Mar. 2024, www.politico.com/news/2024/03/11/ernst-run-against-cotton-senate-gop-00146171. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Garrity, Kelly. "'There Is No Comparison': Ernst Knocks Trump Over 'Hostages' Comments." Politico, 14 Jan. 2024, www.politico.com/news/2024/01/14/joni-ernst-trump-january6-hostages-00135522. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Jacobs, Jennifer. "Joni Ernst Wins Iowa US Senate Seat." Des Moines Register, 5 Nov. 2014, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/2014/11/04/joni-ernst-wins-iowa-us-senate-seat/18490851/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Mackey, Maureen. "Joni Ernst: 21 Things You Didn’t Know About Her." Fiscal Times, 18 Jan. 2015, www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/01/18/Joni-Ernst-21-Things-You-Didn-t-Know-About-Her. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

"Meet Joni." Joni Ernst for U.S. Senate, 2014, joniernst.com/meet-joni/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Pfannenstiel, Brianne, and Riley Beggin. "Why Iowa Senators Grassley and Ernst Broke with Republican Ranks on Foreign Aid to Ukraine." Des Moines Register, 13 Feb. 2024, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/13/chuck-grassley-joni-ernst-voted-to-approve-95-billion-foreign-aid-bill-ukraine-israel/72581965007/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Rucker, Philip, and Dan Balz. "How Joni Ernst’s Ad about ‘Castrating Hogs’ Transformed Iowa’s U.S. Senate Race." Washington Post, 11 May 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-joni-ernsts-ad-about-castrating-hogs-transformed-iowas-us-senate-race/2014/05/11/c02d1804-d85b-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11‗story.html. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Saar, Bob. "Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst Reflects on Jan. 6 Capitol Insurrection During Burlington Visit." Des Moines Register, 11 Apr. 2021, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/04/11/iowa-sen-joni-ernst-reflects-jan-6-capitol-insurrection-riots-donald-trump-mob-burlington/7161633002/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.