Senator Joni Ernst to announce that she will not seek the re -election of the Iowa Senate

The republican senator Joni Ernst of Iowa will not present himself to re -election in the middle of next year, three sources confirm to Fox News.

And Ernst, 55, who was elected for the first time in the Senate in 2014, is expected to make an official announcement next week.

Ernst, a retired army reserve and an Iowa National Guard officer who served in the war in Iraq, has been fighting for months if we have to present himself to re -election in 2026.

The senator’s decision to retire rather than requesting a third six -year term creates an open seat in Iowa.

The republican iowa targets the GOP Sen Joni Ernst for Wonter, saying: “It does not vote as” the Republicans

Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, arrives for a closed briefing for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the American Capitol on July 29, 2025, in Washington, DC (Win McNamee / Getty images)

The GOP representative, Ashley Hinson, a former presenter of television news who is in his third term representing the 2nd district of the Iowa congress, which covers the northeast part of the State, plans to run to succeed Ernst, several sources confirm to Fox News.

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Iowa was once a high -level state of the battlefield that former president Barack Obama carried during his victories of the 2008 and 2012 White House. But the state moved to the right during the recent electoral cycles, President Donald Trump carrying the state of eight points in 2020 and 13 points last November.

The Republicans currently hold the two seats in the American Senate of the State – Ernst and the longtime senator Chuck Grassley – and the four districts of the Congress of Iowa, as well as all the offices on the level of the State, with the exception of the State auditor, who is held by the Democrat Rob Sand, who presents himself for the governor next year.

But the Democrats of Iowa are under tension after having reversed two seats in the GOP state Senate during special elections so far this year.

Senator Joni Ernst, center, points out remarks on Capitol Hill with the Republican senses. Shelley Moore Capito, Steve Daines and John Thune. (Reuters)

Four Democrats are already presenting themselves in the Senate in Iowa. The field includes the representative of the Josh Turek State, a paralympian basketball player in a wheelchair, the senator from the state Zach Wahls, the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Nathan Sage and the president of the School Board of Monks, Jackie Norris.

Ernst drew national attention for the first time 11 years ago with her advertisements “Make ‘Em Crieal” while she won the Senate’s leading elections in the race to succeed in retiring the Democratic Senator Tom Harkin.

The senator, thanks to her military history, has often taken the lead on defense issues. She is the first veteran woman in the fight to serve in the Senate and made the fight against sexual assault in the army, after being a survivor of sexual assault herself.

Since Trump’s victory in the White House in 2016, Ernst has tried to find a balance between his support for the President when she has broken a more traditional republican program.

Earlier this year, Ernst triggered a controversy after saying: “We are all going to die”, during the response of a voter at a meeting of the town hall which raised concerns concerning the Medicaid cuts in the GOP National Policy Bill.

The demonstrators calling for the preservation of Medicaid financing are withdrawn from the increase in energy and trade in the budgetary resolution of the 2010 financial year in the Rayburn building on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, included via Getty Images)

Republicans are not only intended to defend themselves, but also to develop the current majority of the 53-47 Senate in the elections of next year.

The Senate Republicans experienced a favorable card during cycle 2024 when they overthrew four blue seats from red to win back the majority.

But the ruling party – the Republicans at the moment – faces political -opposite winds in mid -term elections. However, a current reading of the 2026 card indicates that the GOP may be able to take offense in certain key states.

In the battlefield, Georgia, which Trump narrowly carried in the race for the White House of last year, the Republicans consider the senator of the first mandate Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable democrat in re -election of next year.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump during a signature ceremony for the Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025. (Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

They are also targeting Battleground Michigan, where Democratic Senator Gary Peters retires at the end of next year, and Swing State New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen has decided not to ask for a fourth six -year term in the Senate.

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The Target List of the NRSC is also the Minnesota in Blue-Leaning, where Democratic Senator Tina Smith does not present herself to re-election.

But the GOP defends an open seat in the battlefield of North Carolina, where the Republican senator Thom Tills decided not to be re -elected.