Joni Ernst

RepublicanU.S. Senator, IA

Age	55 (b. 1970-07-01)
Gender	Female
In office since	2015-01-06 (~11 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	White
Religion	Lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
Education	B.S. in Psychology, Iowa State University (1992); M.P.A. (Justice Administration), Columbus State University (1995)
Prior occupation	U.S. Army / Iowa Army National Guard officer; Montgomery County Auditor
Military service	Yes: U.S. Army Reserve and Iowa Army National Guard (Lieutenant Colonel)
Birthplace	Red Oak, Iowa
Marital status	Divorced — Gail Ernst (married 1992, divorced January 2019)
Children	1
Residence	Red Oak, Iowa

Wikipedia · Ballotpedia · OpenSecrets · Official site

Pending research: languages · notable relatives · openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	2014
Previous offices	Montgomery County (Iowa) Auditor (2005-2011) · Iowa State Senate, District 12 (2011-2014)
Committees	Senate Committee on Armed Services · Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chair)
Caucuses	Senate Taiwan Caucus · Republican Main Street Partnership · Congressional Motorcycle Caucus
Leadership	Chair, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (2025-present) · Chair, Senate Republican Policy Committee (2023-2025) · Vice Chair, Senate Republican Conference (2019-2023)
Ideology	Conservative Republican; rated as one of the more conservative members of the Senate. Heritage Action scorecard 94% (119th Congress).

Financial

Net worth: disclosed $-156,963–$544,999 (2023) · estimate

No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).

Top donors: Berkshire Hathaway ($102,058 (2020 cycle))

Top industries: Agribusiness (Dairy, Farm bureaus, Meat processing) · Republican/Conservative leadership PACs · Anti-abortion groups · Business associations · Savings & Loans

Scandals & crimes ledger

resolved — FEC Civil Penalty for Excessive and Prohibited Campaign Contributions (2014 Senate Race)

campaign-finance · 2014-01-01 · Federal Election Commission · Conciliation agreement accepted 5-0 by FEC; Joni for Iowa paid $14,500 civil penalty. Campaign admitted to knowingly accepting $37,190 in excessive and prohibited contributions from 32 entities (including corporations, individuals, and PACs) during the 2014 general election cycle, failing to timely refund them, and inaccurately disclosing debts on the 2014 July Quarterly Report.

The FEC found that Joni for Iowa, Ernst's 2014 Senate campaign committee (treasurer Cabell Hobbs), knowingly accepted $37,190 in excessive and prohibited contributions from 32 entities including three corporations, failed to timely refund them, and inaccurately reported debts. The Commission voted 5-0 to accept a conciliation agreement in November 2016; the $14,500 civil penalty — the largest FEC fine ever levied against an Iowa politician — was paid in October 2017. The campaign blamed a vendor it subsequently fired for contribution-aggregation errors.

Sources: Iowa Starting Line · FEC.gov — MUR 7200 case page · FEC.gov — MUR 7200 complaint document · The Gazette (Iowa) — Fact Checker

resolved — FEC Matters Under Review 7672/7674/7732 — Iowa Values Dark Money Coordination Complaint

campaign-finance · 2019-07-01 · In December 2019, watchdog groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Campaign for Accountability, and American Democracy Legal Fund filed FEC complaints (later consolidated as MURs 7672, 7674, and 7732) naming Senator Joni Ernst, her campaign committee Joni for Iowa, its treasurer Cabell Hobbs, the Iowa Values 501(c)(4) nonprofit, and the Jobs, Opportunity and New Ideas PAC as respondents. The complaints alleged that Ernst's campaign illegally coordinated with and solicited funds for Iowa Values — a nonprofit founded and run by her former aides — in violation of federal prohibitions on soliciting nonfederal/excessive funds and on undisclosed coordination, citing a July 2019 email in which an Ernst campaign fundraiser solicited a donor 'on behalf of Iowa Values.' The FEC's Office of General Counsel recommended finding reason to believe violations occurred, but the six-member Commission split 3-3 along party lines on whether to proceed, and on August 29, 2022 the Commission voted to close the file without a finding of violation or penalty against Ernst. · Dismissed/closed without finding a violation or penalty against Ernst after the Commission deadlocked 3-3; case file closed August 29, 2022.

A 2019 FEC complaint named Senator Ernst personally as a respondent alongside her campaign committee and an allied dark-money nonprofit (Iowa Values), alleging illegal campaign coordination and prohibited solicitation; the Commission deadlocked along party lines and closed the matter in August 2022 without a violation finding or penalty.

Sources: Federal Election Commission · Iowa Capital Dispatch · Campaign Legal Center