U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate Tuesday, hours after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst publicly announced she would not run for reelection in 2026.
In a statement announcing her run, Hinson aligned herself with President Donald Trump, saying she will be the president’s “strongest ally” in the Senate and will work to support his agenda on issues like immigration and border security, supporting Iowa agriculture and “returning common sense to classrooms.”
“The America First agenda is working for Iowans,” Hinson said. “I’m running for Senate because there’s more work to do, and I am prepared to win and deliver.”
Hinson, currently representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, has been considered a top GOP contender for the U.S. Senate seat amid speculation and reports on Ernst leaving the race. Ernst officially said she would not run for reelection Tuesday, saying it was “no easy decision” to not seek another term but that she planned to focus and “give back” to her family.
In her announcement to run for the spot, the Republican representative thanked Ernst for her military and public service.
“Service defines Senator Joni Ernst — from serving her country in uniform to fiercely fighting for Iowans in the U.S. Senate,” Hinson said. “Her story — from Red Oak to the Senate, is a powerful example of the American dream. Our country and state are better off because of Joni’s selfless service — I lead a heartfelt thank you from every Iowan.”
There are two other Republicans who are also campaigning to become the GOP Senate nominee — former state lawmaker Jim Carlin and Joshua Smith, who previously ran as a Libertarian candidate for the state Senate.
Multiple Republican U.S. Senators, including Katie Britt of Alabama, Jim Banks of Indiana and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma endorsed Hinson as she entered the race.
“She’s proudly pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and is working hard to cut the long-unchecked waste, fraud, and abuse that’s run rampant in Washington,” Banks said in a statement. “There is no doubt she is the conservative fighter we need in the Senate to advance President Trump’s agenda and keep America on the right path.”
Hinson has represented northeast Iowa in the U.S. House for three terms since she defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer, a Democrat, in the 2020 election. Before her time in Congress, Hinson worked as a TV news anchor for Cedar Rapids’ KCRG, in addition to serving in the Iowa House.
Her move to run for Senate means the 2nd Congressional District will be without a Republican incumbent. Multiple Democrats — state Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, Clint Twedt-Ball, the founder of the nonprofit Matthew 25 and Kathy Dolter, the former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College — have announced their campaigns, but there are currently no Republicans who have entered the field.
Though the 2nd Congressional District is rated as a “solid Republican” seat by the Cook Political Report heading into 2026, Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Hinson shifted to the U.S. Senate race as “her re-election prospects are doomed because Northeast Iowans see that she is more focused on serving billionaires than working for them.”
“Hinson knows what we know: there’s change coming in Iowa, Democrats will compete aggressively to flip this seat, and we will win because Iowans are ready to elect someone who actually puts them first,” Smith said.
But House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, argued Iowans will elect the eventual GOP nominee in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.
“This is simple: Iowa voters trust Republicans to deliver real, commonsense results and have no interest in the Democrats’ radical agenda,” NRCC Spokeswoman Emily Tuttle said in a statement. “This seat will stay red.”
Democrat Bob Krause joins Democratic primary for U.S. Senate
Iowa Democrat Bob Krause has also entered the race for U.S. Senate, ending his campaign for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.
Krause, the president of the Veterans National Recovery Center and a former state representative, made a video Monday announcing his bid to become the 2026 Democratic nominee for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat. He is joining a crowded primary field — state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage have also announced their campaigns for the position.
But Krause said he was the best candidate for the job because of his background in the state legislature, his work as a regional representative for the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in former President Jimmy Carter’s administration and his military experience.
“For 28 and a half years in the military, I pledged to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” Krause said in the video. “Today I see movements towards the ignoring of the Constitution, and I want to change that.”
Krause has run for Senate multiple times before — he sought to become the Democratic nominee in 2010, 2016 and 2022 — though he withdrew from the Democratic primary in 2022 after failing to gather enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. Krause said in a statement he is coming into the race with a “robust network of supporters across the state” from previous election cycles.
In May, Krause announced he was running for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. In a statement Monday, Krause said he was withdrawing from this race and endorsing Democrat Christina Bohannan for the Democratic nomination.
Bohannan, a former Iowa House member and University of Iowa law professor, was the 1st District Democratic nominee in 2024, a race she lost to Miller-Meeks with 47% of the vote to the incumbent’s 53% after requesting a vote recount. She announced she would run for the position again in June. Krause said in a statement Bohannan has “run before, possesses a strong work ethic and enjoys exceptional name recognition.”
Travis Terrell, a patient access specialist at University of Iowa Health Care, is also running to become the 1st District Democratic nominee, campaigning as a progressive candidate.
