Senate Ag Committee member Joni Ernst of Iowa will reveal next week that she won’t seek reelection in 2026 after two terms in the Senate, according to media reports Friday.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is widely expected to seek the seat.  

Ernst, 55, has served in the Senate since 2015. She has been a member of the Senate Ag Committee since joining Congress and recently founded the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus. 

Ernst came under scrutiny this summer after saying “we are all going to die” in response to a constituent at a town meeting who commented about Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. 

CBS News was the first to report that Ernst wouldn't seek re-election.

Spokespeople for Ernst did not reply to a request for comment. 

It’s a “fairly open secret” that Hinson, who currently represents Iowa’s 2nd District in northeast Iowa, would likely run for the seat, according to Iowa political analyst and longtime Drake University political science professor, Dennis Goldford. 

GOP leaders have long suggested Hinson would be a good candidate for the role. 

Hinson's spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment. 

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Ernst won re-election by more than six points in 2020. President Donald Trump secured a win in Iowa in both 2020 and 2024. However, Democratic President Barack Obama won the state in the 2012 and 2008 elections. 

“Even though Iowa has trended red, you would have to say it's a favorable environment for whoever would want to run on the Republican side in her stead,” Goldford said. “But still without an incumbent, just as an open seat, it's a lot more interesting of a race than it would have been otherwise.”

At least five Democrats have entered the race so far. They include Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls, state Rep. Josh Turek and Des Moines School Board Chairwoman Jackie Norris. 

Ernst marks the sixth member of the Senate Ag Committee, three Republicans and three Democrats, who will not be returning to the roster for the 120th Congress in 2027. 

Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., are running for governor of their states. Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., also will be retiring.

Iowa’s senior senator is Charles Grassley who will turn 92 in September. 

Hinson led the original Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, which would nullify California’s Proposition 12. She has since introduced a similar bill, the Save Our Bacon Act, that would prohibit state and local governments “from interfering with the production of livestock in other states,” according to the release. 

Hinson also serves as co-chair of Biofuels Caucus and has been a long advocate for year-round E-15 access. 

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