Joni Ernst

Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and retired military officer serving since 2015 as the junior United States senator from Iowa. She is a member of the Republican Party.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Ernst joined the United States Army Reserve. She served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. During the Iraq War, she served as commanding officer of the 1168th Transportation Company in Kuwait and later commanded the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Camp Dodge.

Ernst served in the Iowa State Senate from 2011 to 2014 and as auditor of Montgomery County from January 2005 to January 5, 2011. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and reelected in 2020. As chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2023 to 2025, Ernst was the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate. During her Senate tenure, she has called for reforms to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. During the Trump administration, she expressed concern about Trump's trade war with China, and as a war hawk, criticized some of his foreign policy. While supporting both of Trump's nominees for EPA administrator, she expressed concern over their commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard.

On September 2, 2025, Ernst announced that she would not seek reelection in 2026.

Ernst was born Joni Kay Culver in Montgomery County, Iowa, the daughter of Marilyn and Richard Culver. She was valedictorian of her class at Stanton Community School District High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Iowa State University in 1992, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbus State University in 1995. In college, she took part in an agricultural exchange to the Soviet Union.

Ernst joined Iowa State University's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program when she was 20, and the United States Army Reserve after graduating. She served as a logistics officer and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard. In 2003–2004, she spent 12 months in Kuwait as commander of the 1168th Transportation Company, during the Iraq War. Near the end of her military career, she served as the commanding officer of the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Camp Dodge, the Iowa Army National Guard's largest battalion. Upon her retirement from the military in 2015, Ernst had served 23 years in the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. Her awards included the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

In an interview with Time magazine in 2014, Ernst said she was sexually harassed in the military, saying, "I had comments, passes, things like that" that she was able to stop, and said she would support removing the chain of command from the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases.

Ernst was elected Montgomery County Auditor in 2004, defeating the incumbent, Connie Magneson. She ran unopposed in 2008 and was reelected with 4,569 votes. She was elected to the Iowa State Senate in a special election in 2011 and reelected in 2012. She represented District 12, in southwestern Iowa.