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Joni Ernst

Joni Ernst

Republican · IA U.S. SenatorCandidate 2026

12 years in the U.S. Congress · since 2015

  • role Junior United States senator from Iowa since 2015
  • role Chaired the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2023 to 2025, the fourth-ranking Senate Republican position
  • role Served in the Iowa State Senate from 2011 to 2014
  • role Served as auditor of Montgomery County, Iowa, from 2005 to 2011
  • background Served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, retiring as a lieutenant colonel, including Iraq War service
  • background Graduated from Iowa State University

Track record

Assembled from Congress.gov · FEC · official disclosures — each fact links its own source

These are verifiable facts from the public record, assembled in one place and presented without judgment. They are not a score, a grade, or a ranking. Context matters: a missed vote may be excused, on leadership or committee duty, or paired; a party-unity rate reflects agenda alignment, not virtue or independence; a disclosed trade or a documented relationship is a required public filing, not evidence of wrongdoing. Each fact links to its full source below.

  • 97.8%
    Roll-call participation →

    voted in 46 recorded roll calls

    Missing a vote is not inherently negative — an absence can be excused, reflect leadership or committee duty, or a recorded pairing.

  • 100
    Bills sponsored →

    plus 211 cosponsored

    A count of bills introduced as the primary sponsor; most legislation never advances, regardless of who sponsors it.

  • 1
    Sponsored bills enacted →

    of 100 bills sponsored

    Whether a bill becomes law depends on the whole Congress, not the sponsor alone; substantive provisions often pass folded into other vehicles.

  • 100%
    Party-unity voting

    votes with the party majority · on 26 party-line votes

    Party-unity is how often a member votes with their own party's majority on party-line votes — it reflects agenda alignment, not loyalty, independence, or virtue.

  • 0%
    Cross-party voting

    votes with the other party's majority on those same votes

    The share of the same party-line votes cast with the OTHER party's majority — a descriptive rate, not a measure of principle.

  • 0
    Documented positions →

    no positions documented yet

    Documented, sourced positions we have on record — the absence of a documented position is not the absence of a view.

  • 12
    Committee assignments →

    committees and subcommittees

    Committee seats are assignments made by party leadership — a measure of role and jurisdiction, not an achievement or a conflict in itself.

Assembled from CivicGate's ingested public records for Joni Ernst. A fact shown as “—” means we don't yet hold that data — not that the value is zero.

Voting record

Data from senate.gov roll-call records

97.8%
of Senate roll calls voted

Full voting record (46 roll calls) → · Congress 119 · based on 46 of 915 recorded roll calls

See the participation leaderboard →

Issue positions (3)

Documented + CivicGate vote-derived — stated positions link their source; derived positions come from votes on direction-tagged bills

Campaign finance

2026 cycle

Incumbent for U.S. Senate IA · 2026 General Election

  • $2,002,592 raised
  • $2,307,957 spent
  • $1,934,478 cash on hand
$2.00M
$1.63M
$997.37K
Itemized (≥ $200)$763.43K
Unitemized (< $200)$233.94K
Other committees (PACs)$637.25K
Transfers from other committees$362.93K
Other receipts$5.04K
$2.31M
Operating expenditures$1.22M
Contribution refunds$979.06K
Other disbursements$109.00K
Cash on hand$1.93M
Debts owed by committee$0.00

Through June 30, 2026 · FEC

Data from FEC (through Jun 30, 2026)

Finance updated: not yet pulled

Over time

Data from FEC per-cycle campaign finance

Money raised, spent, and cash on hand across every election cycle on record — toggle a series in the legend.

Joni Ernst campaign finance by election cycle
Cycle RaisedSpentCash on hand
2014$12,011,101$11,913,212$97,888
2016$1,109,368$894,689$0
2018$1,765,599$843,336$1,363,150
2020$27,686,921$28,521,656$528,415
2022$2,035,244$1,589,924$973,736
2024$2,921,863$1,655,756$2,239,843
2026$2,002,592$2,307,957$1,934,478

Contributions received

Data from FEC

Recorded individual contributions: $5,964 ·

Top contributors (FEC)

Data from FEC, itemized campaign receipts

Top contributors — 2024 cycle

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor's reported employer (FEC Schedule A).

  • Employer not reported $57,653
  • CAPITAL GROUP $40,000
  • SOROBAN CAPITAL $13,200
  • CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES $7,500
  • GOOGLE $6,800
  • JPMORGAN CHASE $6,619
  • CONFUSION CAPITAL $6,600
  • LONGFORD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP $6,600
  • PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. $6,600
  • APOLLO ISG $6,600

Outside spending on this race

Data from FEC, Schedule E independent expenditures

Independent expenditures are money outside groups (PACs / super-PACs) spend to support or oppose a candidate without coordinating with their campaign. What's this? →

  • 2026 cycle $0 supporting · $15,476 opposing · 1 outside group
  • 2024 cycle $8,133 supporting · $0 opposing · 1 outside group

See the outside-money leaderboard →

Sponsored / cosponsored bills (200)

Data from Congress.gov

200
Page 1 of 8 · 200 bills
  • SRES 939A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that it values the active participation of the Republic of Kosovo as the state partner of the Iowa National Guard over the past 15 years.cosponsoredSep 29, 2026
  • SRES 923A resolution expressing support for the designation of October 4 through October 10, 2026, as "National 4-H Week".cosponsoredSep 28, 2026
  • SRES 916A resolution designating the week of September 21, 2026, as the "Ray Gaesser Memorial Farm Safety Week" to recognize the life and legacy of Ray Gaesser, who passed away in a tragic farming accident, and promote farm safety in the honor of Ray Gaesser.sponsoredSep 27, 2026
  • SRES 913A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.cosponsoredSep 27, 2026
  • SRES 897A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.cosponsoredSep 22, 2026
  • S 5294Keeping China Off the Rails Act of 2026sponsoredAug 5, 2026
  • S 5314No Cash for Cohabitating Kins of Crooks ActsponsoredAug 5, 2026
  • S 5276Reducing Red Tape for Rebuilding ActcosponsoredAug 5, 2026
  • SRES 821A resolution designating July 30, 2026, as "National Whistleblower Appreciation Day".cosponsoredJul 29, 2026
  • SRES 823A resolution designating the week of August 2 through August 8, 2026, as "National Farmers Market Week".cosponsoredJul 29, 2026
  • S 5025Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026cosponsoredJul 15, 2026
  • S 5003ACCESS Rural America ActcosponsoredJul 14, 2026
  • SRES 801A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.cosponsoredJul 12, 2026
  • S 4952Protecting American Taxpayers ActsponsoredJul 12, 2026
  • S 4891Preventing Fugitive Fraudsters ActsponsoredJun 23, 2026
  • S 4940Specialized Infant Formula Protection ActsponsoredJun 23, 2026
  • S 4892SMART Energy Efficiency Standards ActsponsoredJun 23, 2026
  • S 4789Blue Star Mothers Day ActsponsoredJun 15, 2026
  • S 4747Stopping Fraudulent Payments ActsponsoredJun 9, 2026
  • S 4685Ending Double Dealing Act of 2026sponsoredJun 3, 2026
  • S 4681OASIS Act of 2026cosponsoredJun 3, 2026
  • SRES 755A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.cosponsoredMay 31, 2026
  • S 4628A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an initiative to address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare in rural areas, and for other purposes.cosponsoredMay 20, 2026
  • S 4620Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026cosponsoredMay 20, 2026
  • SRES 747A resolution expressing support for the designation of May 2026 as "Renewable Fuels Month" to recognize the important role that renewable fuels play in lowering fuel prices for consumers, lessening reliance on foreign adversaries, supporting rural communities, and reducing carbon impacts.cosponsoredMay 20, 2026
Page 1 of 8 · 200 bills

Documented relationships

Documented facts about Ernst, aggregated from public records. A documented relationship is not evidence of wrongdoing — it is context, not a conclusion.

No documented relationships of this kind on record — absence is not a finding.

Stock trades (STOCK Act)

Data from Stock Watcher / official disclosures

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Data from Congress.gov · FEC

How Ernst connects to other members, committees, and PACs — drawn only from ingested records.

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Comments

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