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Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa on Tuesday captured her party’s Senate nomination in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.
Hinson, a former TV news anchor who is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, defeated former state senator and former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Carlin in the GOP Senate primary, The Associated Press reported.
The Republican-controlled seat in Iowa is a top target for Democrats, and the race is one of about a dozen crucial showdowns in this year’s midterm elections that will determine whether the Republicans hold on to their current 53–47 majority in the chamber.
Hinson was backed by President Donald Trump; Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune; the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP; and by Ernst as she cruised to her party’s nomination. Hinson, who in 2020 flipped a Democratic-held seat that covers the northeastern portion of Iowa, is seen as a rising star in the party.
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Rep. Ashley Hinson on Tuesday won the Republican Senate nomination in Iowa in the 2026 race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles, with Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points in November 2024.
Republicans hold both of the state’s Senate seats — Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley — and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor.
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But Democrats are energized heading into the midterms, when the GOP as the party in power will face traditional headwinds, a challenging political climate thanks to persistent inflation and sky-high gas prices due to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s sinking approval ratings.
And Iowa Democrats, in particular, are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections last year.
Hinson will face off in the general election against the winner of an expensive and contentious Democratic Senate primary between state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, and state Sen. Zach Wahls.
Wahls, a progressive who Republicans have likened to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has the backing of liberal champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Turek, the more moderate Senate contender who flipped a GOP-held Iowa House seat in 2022, is backed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, announced last year that she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026 to a third term in the Senate. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Hinson is aiming to succeed Ernst, a retired Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard officer who served in the Iraq War and was first elected to the Senate in 2014.
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Ernst grabbed plenty of national attention in that campaign with her “make ’em squeal” ads as she won the high-profile Senate election to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
Fox News’ Sally Persons contributed to this report.
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