JONI ERNST
Joni Ernst is a self-described “Mother, Soldier and Independent Leader”. We could not agree more with that description!
Joni’s ascent to her current position of leading the very liberal Rep. Bruce Braley in the race for Iowa’s 2014 open seat in the U.S. Senate is nothing short of meteoric.
After months as a seemingly average candidate among no fewer than four qualified contenders for the Republican nomination, including a self-funder who spent nearly $3 million of his own money (much of it against Joni), she began to pick up traction after her 30-second spot about castrating hogs went viral. Joni then proved herself as a formidable challenger, blowing through the primary field with 56% of the vote, more than 38% ahead of the next contender!!!
More importantly, Joni’s accomplishments in the Primary gave Iowa and national GOP groups hope that this Senate seat was in contention, after it was all but written off in early 2013 when Congressman Braley became the anointed and unopposed (in his primary) early successor to the retiring 30-year ultra-liberal Senator Tom Harkin.
During his time in Congress, Braley has been closely associated with the liberal wing of his party and played a role in marshaling votes for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law—which passed the House without a single Republican vote. According to The Hill, in 2009, Braley was a member of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D., Calif.) “go-to gang” when she needed votes to pass the Affordable Care Act (more commonly known as Obamacare), which passed the House in March 2010 without a single GOP vote.
Braley has also supported Pelosi’s agenda in the House about 95 percent of the time in recent years, according to the Republican Party of Iowa and Congressional Quarterly records. In 2006 when Braley first ran for Congress, the Des Moines Register — the newspaper of record in Iowa — described him as “an unapologetic liberal Democrat.”
Joni was born and raised in very humble surroundings in Montgomery County, Iowa. She grew up walking beans and feeding hogs. Her mom made all of her clothes. Joni and her family went to church every week, in a community where they helped their neighbors when needed, and the neighbors did the same for Joni’s family. She has fought her entire life to promote and protect these Iowa values and American principles.
Joni attend Iowa State University with the help of academic and leadership scholarships, and earned tuition money by working construction jobs with her dad during the summer months.
While in Ames, Joni met her husband Gail. After Gail retired as a Command Sergeant Major and Army Ranger, the two knew there was only one place to go to raise their family: back home to Iowa. Today Joni teaches Sunday school in the same church where she was baptized and married. When Joni mows her lawn (that’s right), she looks out at the same sidewalks and yards where she played as a child.
Joni is a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard, having recently commanded the largest (1,200+ soldiers) battalion in Iowa. In 2003, she served as a company commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom, where her unit was tasked with running convoys through Kuwait and into southern Iraq. Joni understands the sacrifices made by our fighting men and women, and believes that when they return home from active duty, we must fight as hard for them and their families as they fight for us
Joni is running for U.S. Senate to protect, and promote, the traditional values and principles I was taught growing up in Southwest Iowa.
As Montgomery County Auditor, she worked to eliminate waste, save taxpayers money, and hold government accountable. As an Iowa State Senator, she has fought to improve education, limit government, cut taxes, and grow jobs. Indeed, this past year, she helped pass the largest tax cut in Iowa history – returning over $4.4 billion in property tax relief to Iowa taxpayers over the next decade. During her tenure in the legislature, Iowa’s unemployment rate has dropped from over 6% down to 4.4% – now seventh-lowest in the nation – meaning that Iowa has added more than 130,000 new jobs for Iowa workers and families since January 2011. Once elected to the U.S. Senate, Joni will bring her same approach to no-nonsense job-creation legislation to Washington, D.C.
Holding to her commitment to fiscal responsibility, the State has gone from a $900 million budget deficit to a $1 billion budget surplus during her tenure. This was achieved by limiting the size and scope of state government, reining in spending habits, and eliminating the practice of taking on more debt for ongoing projects. Joni will bring these principles to D.C. as well.
Joni has a proven track record of supporting and defending these Iowa Values and American Principles for more than 20 years. She is a proud Iowan who put on a military uniform to protect our Constitution and defend the liberties that it embodies. These are the things that made America the greatest nation in the history of mankind, and they are worth fighting for.
When serving in the U.S. Senate, Joni will continue the battle for these Iowa values for all Iowans and all Americans each and every single day.
