Senator Joni Ernst announces campaign manager
Her campaign announced that Bryan Kraber will be the campaign manager for Ernst's 2026 re-election. Kraber was a part of the senator's 2020 re-election campaign. Ernst says she's thrilled to have Kraber leading her re-election campaign.
Story continues below
Top Story: McCook Lake residents in need of more dirt to rebuild homes
Lights & Sirens: Traffic violation scam alarms Siouxlanders; police issue alert
Sports: Bishop Heelan girls soccer drops 1A State semifinal match to Davenport Assumption in 1-0 defeat
Weather: Get the latest weather forecast here
The Senator has not formally announced her re-election campaign. Ernst would be looking for a 3rd-term in the U.S. Senate.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Newsweek
Democrats' Chances of Flipping Joni Ernst's GOP Senate Seat in Iowa—Polls
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Democrat Jackie Norris jumped into the Iowa Senate race to challenge GOP Senator Joni Ernst on Tuesday in a race Democrats are hoping they can make competitive next November. Bryan Kraber, Ernst's campaign manager, told Newsweek Iowans will "reject this Obama-era bureaucrat" in a statement responding to Norris' candidacy. Newsweek also reached out to Norris' campaign for comment via email. Why It Matters Democrats are facing a challenging Senate map ahead of the midterms, despite hopes that President Donald Trump's diminishing approval rating could fuel a 2018-style "blue wave" across the country. The party has to turn to states like Iowa, a former battleground that has shifted rightward over the past decade, as potential flip opportunities if they have any hope of taking back control of the upper chamber. Iowa has not elected a Democratic senator since 2008 and backed Trump in each of his three presidential bids—including by 13 points last November, an indication of how Republican the state has become. Nonetheless, Democrats remain hopeful that a strong national environment, as well as backlash over Ernst's recent Medicaid comments, can make the race more competitive than expected. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst speaks during The Hill & Valley Forum 2025 at The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on April 30, 2025, in Washington. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst speaks during The Hill & Valley Forum 2025 at The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on April 30, 2025, in 137 Ventures/Founders Fund/Jacob Helberg What To Know Norris emphasized her experience as a teacher and school board member in a video announcing her candidacy released on Tuesday. "As a teacher and a school board member, you see the invisible burdens families are carrying," she said. "Take the Medicaid cuts. Who is it impacting? Middle class families right now, they can't afford to put food on the table. We have to find a way to make things more affordable for families." Early polls of the race suggest Ernst will have an advantage in Iowa. A Public Policy Polling survey found that Ernst would lead a generic Democrat by about two percentage points—45 percent to 43 percent, with 12 percent still unsure. However, the poll did not ask voters about specific Democratic candidates. The survey of 568 Iowa voters was taken from June 2 to June 3. A Data for Progress poll from May found that Ernst would have a lead over most Democratic candidates on an informed ballot. When asked about Norris, voters preferred Ernst by about six points (50 percent to 44 percent). Democrat Nathan Sage fared better, leading Ernst by about two points (47 percent to 45 percent). Ernst also led State Representative J.D. Scholten by six points (49 percent to 43 percent) and State Senator Zach Wahls by 10 points (52 percent to 42 percent). The poll surveyed 779 likely voters from May 7 to May 12. Republicans are favored to hold the Iowa Senate seat, according to Kalshi betting odds, which give the GOP a 74 percent chance and Democrats a 26 percent chance of winning next November. Outside of Iowa, Democrats view the Maine seat held by Senator Susan Collins and the open North Carolina seat as their best opportunities to pickup a win in a GOP-held seat next November. Maine backed former Vice President Kamala Harris by about seven points, while North Carolina backed Trump by about three points last November. Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority, so Democrats need to win multiple double-digit Trump states like Iowa, Ohio or Texas to win back control of the Senate. Democrats are also defending seats in Georgia and Michigan, both of which backed Trump last year. What People Are Saying Bryan Kraber told Newsweek: "Our state is ruby red because Iowans reject higher taxes, open borders, and woke ideology, just like they will reject this Obama-era bureaucrat" Democratic hopeful Jackie Norris wrote in a press release: "Red versus blue isn't fixing anything. Iowa needs a Senator who doesn't just talk tough but rolls up their sleeves, and has the grit and experience to actually get something done." Sabato Crystal Ball forecasters J. Miles Coleman and Kyle Kondik wrote in a June update: "In 2014, [Ernst] won as part of a broader GOP wave—and she got help from a gaffe-prone opponent. Six years later, she won reelection as Trump was carrying Iowa by a strong margin (Ernst ran a little bit behind Trump). It's possible that 2026 could be like 2018: Iowa did not have a Senate election that year, but Democrats did end up winning three of the state's four U.S. House seats that year, and we suspect that if Iowa had had a Senate election, it likely at least would have been close." What Happens Next Ernst has not confirmed her plans for the 2026 election. Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball consider the race to be Likely Republican.
New York Post
01-08-2025
- New York Post
Ernst highlights a major problem: Cost overruns are no big thing in Washington
Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell should be thanking Sen. Joni Ernst: The cost overruns her team dug up on mismanaged government projects make the Fed's renovation overspending look almost modest. On Wednesday, Ernst's office released a report detailing nearly $163 billion in overruns on more than a dozen infrastructure projects, urging Congress to claw back $13 billion in allocated funds. The biggest money-sucker is California's high-speed rail boondoggle, which was supposed to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2020 on a $33 billion budget when it first passed back in 2008. Advertisement On Wednesday, Rep. Joni Ernst's office released a report detailing almost $163 billion in cost overruns on more than a dozen infrastructure projects, urging the federal government to claw back $13 billion in allocated funds. AP The end is far out of sight after years of delays thanks to absurdly optimistic planning, bad decisions and red tape: The very first track was only laid this past January; the latest projections have it costing $128 billion with completion more than a decade late. In the highly unlikely event it gets finished at all. The Trump administration rightly nixed $4 billion set aside for Cali's 'train to nowhere'; not another red cent of taxpayer dough should be flushed down that black hole. Advertisement Another major cash waste is the Department of Veterans Affairs' effort to transition to an electronic health record system, now running a cool $33.7 billion over budget. And Ernst lists plenty of smaller financial fiascos that prove overruns are the norm when it comes to government work. That includes an attempt to resurrect the LIRR's Rockaway Beach line, the tab for which has ballooned to $1.4 billion — more than three times the $400 million it was supposed to cost. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Camden Direct Connection Project in New Jersey, meant to reduce traffic and improve highway conditions, has ballooned from an $873 million job finishing in 2021, to (so far) $1.2 billion in work that won't finish 'til 2032. Fact is, most of these projects were boondoggles from the start — half-baked ideas that never should've gotten started. Advertisement No wonder the Fed's Powell shrugged off the extra $600 million for a $2.5 billion headquarters revamp when testifying to the Senate Banking Committee. Good on Ernst for drawing attention to this dysfunction: The first step is admitting you have a problem. But nothing will change unless Congress stops allocating federal funds for pipe-dream projects that suck up public cash for years with nothing to show for it.
Fox News
24-07-2025
- Fox News
DOGE prepares to literally drain the swamp by banishing Biden's ‘overreaching' water rule
EXCLUSIVE: After scoring a victory in her effort to undo the Biden-era expansion of clean water regulations that led to outrage from farmers and homesteaders, Senate DOGE Chairwoman Joni Ernst put forward permanent policy exclusions Thursday to prevent future Democratic administrations from "overreach." "If you try to navigate a wastewater treatment pool, you'll be up a creek without a paddle," Ernst, R-Iowa, said, mocking what she and many heartland landowners see as federal overreach into clearly unnavigable waters. Rainwater pools, farm runoff, small property ponds, and other ephemeral or seasonal water bodies – like prairie potholes and temporary channels – were suddenly subject to federal regulation, not local farmers or landowners. "WOTUS regulatory uncertainty has threatened the livelihoods of hardworking Iowa farmers, small businesses, and landowners for far too long and I was thrilled to join EPA Administrator (Lee) Zeldin in announcing that the Trump administration is revising this misguided and harmful regulatory expansion," Ernst told Fox News Digital, noting her announcement Thursday builds on an effort announced in March by the EPA that opened the door to such revisions. Ernst has called the original Biden and Obama expansions of the law disastrous and "overreach" that continue the trend of Democrats "mounting unnecessary environmental regulations to overwhelm the commonsense voice of hardworking Americans." Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said Ernst's "CLEAR Waters Act" will provide necessary clarity and consistency to such "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) regulations. Naig said it should "end the constant policy whiplash that changes with each new administration." "It's a commonsense approach that brings certainty to those who are working every day to responsibly manage our land and water." A 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA stripped some of the Biden administration's control via their "significant nexus" test of waterway categorization. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the 9-0 majority opinion that the EPA had ordered Idaho landowners Michael and Chantell Sackett to restore a wetland where they were building a home or pay $40,000 per day in penalties. Alito said the EPA had considered the area a wetland because "they were near a ditch that fed into a creek, which fed into Priest Lake; a navigable intrastate lake." "The Sacketts sued, alleging that their property was not 'waters of the United States.'" That decision enraged Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who said the "MAGA Supreme Court is continuing to erode our country's environmental laws." "Make no mistake – this ruling will mean more polluted water, and more destruction of wetlands," he warned at the time.
