Rep Ashley Hinson wins Trump-backed Iowa GOP Senate primary nomination

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa won her party’s Senate nomination Tuesday in a race to win over retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former TV news anchor who represented Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in her third term, 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 key showdowns in this year’s midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain their current 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Hinson was supported by President Donald Trump; Senate Majority Leader Senator John Thune; the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP; and by Ernst on his way to his party’s nomination. Hinson, who flipped the Democratic-held seat covering the northeastern part of Iowa in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party.

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Iowa was once one of the former President’s battleground states Barack Obama He continued his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But in recent election cycles, the state has moved to the right; Trump trailed the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020 and 13 points in November 2024.

Republicans hold both of the state’s Senate seats (Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley) and Iowa’s four congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except state auditors.

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But Democrats are energized heading into the midterm elections, where the GOP as the party in power will face traditional adversities, a difficult political climate due to persistent inflation and sky-high gas prices due to polls showing an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s declining approval ratings.

And Iowa Democrats, in particular, took action after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections last year.

In the general election, Hinson will face the winner of the expensive and contentious Democratic Senate primary between Paralympian State Rep. Josh Turek and State Sen. Zach Wahls.

Progressive Wahls, who Republicans liken to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has the support of liberals’ champion, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Turek, the more moderate Senate candidate who flips the GOP’s Iowa House seat in 2022, is backed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, announced last year that she would not seek re-election to a third term in the Senate in 2026. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Hinson aims to replace 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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When Ernst won a high-profile Senate election by defeating retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, he garnered a lot of national attention in that campaign with his “make ’em scream” ads.

Fox News’ Sally Persons contributed to this report.