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2026 United States Senate election in Iowa
The 2026 United States Senate election in Iowa will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Iowa . Two-term Republican Joni Ernst was re-elected in 2020 with 51.8% of the vote and is running for re-election to a third full term.
After voting for President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012 , Iowa has trended increasingly Republican in subsequent years and is now considered a moderately to strongly red state at the federal and state level. Republican nominee Donald Trump won Iowa in 2020 by 8 percentage points, and in 2024 grew his margin to 13 percentage points. Republicans control every statewide offices (except the state auditor's office ), supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature , both U.S. Senate seats and all four seats in Iowa's U.S. House congressional delegation .[ 1]
Senator Joni Ernst was first elected in the red wave of 2014 , defeating former U.S. Representative Bruce Braley by about 8 percentage points. She was re-elected in 2020 defeating Theresa Greenfield by 6.5 percentage points in what was expected to be a dead heat.[ 2] [ 3]
Publicly expressed interest [ edit ] Hypothetical polling
Joni Ernst vs. Someone Else
Poll source
Date(s)
Sample[ a]
Margin
Joni
Someone
Undecided
Victory Insights[ 7]
December 6–7, 2024
600 (LV)
N/A
48%
27%
26%
Libertarian primary [ edit ]
^ Key:
^ Ta, Linh (November 6, 2024). "Iowa remains solidly Republican" . Axios . Retrieved December 13, 2024 . ^ Barrett, Ted (November 5, 2014). "Joni Ernst wins Iowa Senate race" . CNN . Retrieved December 13, 2024 . ^ Pfannenstiel, Brianne (November 2, 2020). " . The Des Moines Register . Retrieved December 13, 2024 . ^ Burns, Douglas (May 30, 2024). "Ernst seeking third term in U.S. Senate, but open to role in a Trump cabinet" . Iowa Capital Dispatch . Retrieved December 2, 2024 . ^ Belin, Laura (December 9, 2024). "Joshua Smith to challenge Joni Ernst in GOP primary" . Bleeding Heartland . Retrieved December 10, 2024 . ^ a b Mutnick, Ally (December 11, 2024). "For Trump's allies, RINO-hunting season is in full swing" . Politico . Retrieved December 11, 2024 . ^ "NEW POLL: LESS THAN HALF OF IOWA REPUBLICANS SUPPORT JONI ERNST FOR US SENATE IN 2026" (PDF) . Victory Insights . Victory Insights.^ Bellin, Laura (August 5, 2024). "Libertarian Thomas Laehn exploring U.S. Senate bid in Iowa" . Bleeding Heartland . Retrieved December 2, 2024 .
