Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) captured critical endorsements on Friday for her campaign to replace outgoing Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), signaling her battle to keep the Senate seat red is gaining traction.
Ernst became the latest senator to announce on Tuesday she will not be running for reelection, triggering a surprise political shakeup in Iowa, and leading Hinson to launch her campaign within hours of the incumbent senator’s retirement message.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, were swift to jump on the Hinson train this week, touting her conservative credentials and urging GOP voters to support her candidacy. Their endorsements carry critical weight in the Washington scene, cementing Hinson as the current front-runner and greenlighting funding from the GOP’s national coffers to flow to her campaign.
Hinson thanked the two leaders for their support in a post to X on Friday, saying she was “proud” to have their endorsements.
“The support we’ve received from America First conservatives across Iowa is incredible—we are ready to keep Iowa red and deliver President Trump’s agenda for working families!” she said.
Hinson is also one of the headline speakers at the Republican National Committee’s retreat this month in Washington, D.C., as it has quickly become clear she is the party establishment’s favored candidate.
Political strategists believe Hinson, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, is likely to clinch the GOP nomination in the 2026 primary election.
“Everything that I hear from Republicans across the state is — she is absolutely top of the list,” Iowa GOP consultant Tyler Campbell said.
In his endorsement Friday, Thune, the most powerful Republican in the Senate, assured GOP voters Hinson would fall in line with Trump’s agenda.
“We need conservative fighters in the Senate — and that’s exactly what we’ll get with Ashley Hinson,” he said in an NRSC press release. “Ashley has been a fierce advocate of President Trump’s America First agenda and has been instrumental in delivering big wins in the House for Iowans and the American people. I know that she’ll bring with her to the Senate that same unrelenting energy.”
Scott, who holds the keys to major fundraising revenue for Hinson as head of the NRSC, similarly touted Hinson as a “fighter.”
ASHLEY HINSON JUMPS INTO OPEN IOWA SENATE RACE TO REPLACE ERNST
“Having traveled Iowa with Ashley, I know she is the fighter the Hawkeye State needs to deliver President Trump’s agenda in 2026 and beyond,” the NRSC chairman said. “Iowans are all-in for Ashley Hinson, and that’s why the NRSC and I are proud to stand with my friend, a proven conservative and staunch Trump ally.”
Ernst’s move this week to retire in order “to give back” to her family makes her the seventh senator to announce plans to retire instead of running for another term in the 2026 elections. In addition to the four Democrats and three Republicans retiring from public office, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is leaving the upper chamber to run for Alabama governor.
