In a decision that had been expected for weeks, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, sent signals she will soon announce she isn’t seeking re-election next year.
This means three-term Rep. Ashley Hinson will likely run for the open Senate seat. A former TV anchor and stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump, Hinson, 42, has long made no secret of her desire to run for the Senate in 2028, which is when veteran GOP incumbent Chuck Grassley is expected to retire at age 95.
But with Ernst becoming the first Republican senator from the Hawkeye State to voluntarily retire since Bourke B. Hickenlooper in 1968, Hinson is almost certain to make her move in 2026.
“A bigger question may be whether House Speaker Pat Grassley enters the Second District [U.S. House] race and if he can preempt serious competition,” former Polk County (Des Moines) GOP Chairman Kim Schmett told Newsmax.
Hinson’s near-certain departure from the 2nd U.S. House District fueled speculation that her GOP successor will be Pat Grassley, grandson of the venerable Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Pat Grassley, 42, had previously announced he would seek re-election to his New Hartford legislative seat. But Ernst’s retirement and Hinson’s likely bid for her seat have changed the political picture considerably.
It is nine months before the state primary in Iowa, so speculation that Hinson is the sure Senate nominee could be premature. Already, there is talk that Matthew Whittaker, U.S. Ambassador to NATO and a former Acting U.S. Attorney General in Trump’s first term, might make the race. But Whittaker, 55, who has lost bids for state treasurer in 2002 and U.S. Senate in 2014, is thought unlikely to leave such a key assignment abroad.
Among Democrats, the early favorite is former state Senate Democrat leader Zach Wahls. The son of two lesbians, Wahls (who is married and soon to be a father) has been a champion of the LGBTQ+ community and is expected to have its strong financial backing from across the nation.
Whether that kind of backing can pack a punch in Iowa, which last elected a Democrat senator in 2008, is questionable.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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