Free Republic

Joni Ernst's feat this week was one that many thought was impossible: a Republican victory in a blue state that Obama won twice, and the first woman ever elected to Congress from Iowa. Not only did Ernst win a U.S. Senate seat, she clobbered her Democratic opponent by an 8-point margin.. So how did she pull it off in a state that has so long resisted making women its top leaders? A weak opponent, a breakthrough ad in the hog barn that went viral, and a carefully cultivated image that female politicians from Hillary Rodham Clinton to Sarah Palin have...

A Quinnipiac University poll published Monday shows a dead heat in the Iowa Senate race, with Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst tied at 47 percent among likely voters. The news buoys the Democratic argument that the Des Moines Register poll out this weekend, which had Ernst up 7 points, is an outlier. Continue Reading Text Size -+reset Latest on POLITICO Counting JDA Frontline's departures Pelosi raises over $100 million SCOTUS hears Israel passport case Grimes paid $17K to fly Clinton in Hyundai, Kia get $100M EPA fine Colorado poll: GOP slightly ahead It also shows a slightly closer...

Joni Ernst, U.S. Senate candidate, has a banana, a cup of coffee, and a 31-foot RV painted with American flags, landscapes of corn, and hogs. She also has Iowa stretching vastly out in front of her. Seven counties today, eight counties yesterday, 99 counties in 44 days, and a tour she’s calling “Iowa Knows Best” that is intended to persuade Iowans to send her to Washington so she can show the federal government a better way: “the Iowa way.” The Iowa way is fiscal responsibility, she has been telling the people on this tour. The Iowa way is cutting taxes...

Early voting is looking good for Iowa Republican Joni Ernst. In fact, it’s looking better than usual. Kirsten Hunter of the Washington Free Beacon reports that even CNN is acknowledging the trend: CNN: Iowa Early Vote Data Shows Unprecedented Republican Numbers Elated Republicans are celebrating the unprecedented success of U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) in Iowa’s early voting. Iowa Republicans banked a surge of early voters this week, a practice usually dominated by Democrats in the state. Ernst’s unprecedented success is also the result of her opponent, Rep. Bruce Braley’s, failure to mobilize Iowa Democrats despite receiving support from...

In the crucial battle for early voters in Iowa that could foreshadow which party has the edge in the midterm elections, Republicans led Democrats for the first time Wednesday, GOP officials announced. The Republicans closed the day with an advantage of 305 of combined early votes and absentee ballot returns, giving them an advantage they have never held in any Iowa campaign. An overhauled ground game that prioritizes early voting is a key part of the Republican strategy to boost state Sen. Joni Ernst over Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in their close race for an open Senate seat. Republicans also...

Doug Butzier, the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, was killed in a plane crash, authorities said Tuesday. He was 59. Key West Fire Chief Brian Arnold confirmed the crash and Butzier's death in a brief interview. He said Butzier was piloting an airplane late Monday night when it crashed roughly a mile from the Dubuque airport, which Butzier was approaching. No one else was in the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating a crash in the Dubuque area that caused no ground injuries.

Sad news via Radio Iowa regarding the passing of Libertarian Party Senate candidate Douglas Butzier: The pilot who died in a plane crash near Dubuque late last night was the Libertarian candidate for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat. The family of Douglas Butzier has confirmed Butzier was piloting the plane that crashed near the Dubuque Regional Airport at about 11 p.m. Monday. No one else was in the plane. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the single-engine plane took off from the Ankeny Regional Airport at about 10 p.m. and crashed at about 11 p.m., about a mile north of the...

David Young of Iowa's 3rd Congressional District wants to give work permits to 12 million illegals. The only story available is copyright. The retiring Tom Latham was more conservative on every issue than this David Young character. I hope Joni Ernst can still win the Senate race. David Young worked for Grassley. Grassley and Jeff Sessions were probably the 2 best on the Judiciary in terms of exposing Chuck Schumer. What has Young learnt on immigration from his time with Grassley? I know Grassley says he doesn't like using the word amnesty but Grassley pretty much trashed every aspect of...

Republican Joni Ernst has pulled ahead of Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the Iowa Senate race, according to a new poll that points to a heated battle for votes in the final stretch. The Quinnipiac University survey showed Ernst, a state senator, leading Braley by 6 points, 50-44 percent among likely voters. The poll also showed her leading among independents, a key voting bloc. The results are a break from earlier polling which for months has shown Braley leading or tied with his GOP rival. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, said in a statement put out...

Only one percentage points separates Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst in the race to represent Iowa in the U.S. Senate. If the election were held today, 49% of likely Iowa voters say they would vote for Braley and 48% say they would support Ernst, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. That means the contentious race is within the survey's overall sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The electorate is far from solidified. Twenty percent of likely voters polled in Iowa said they could change their mind before Election Day in November. The Braley-Ernst race has...

Iowa is where it all started for President Obama. It's where he won twice in a general election. But he's no longer Mr. Popular there. Obama's average approval rating in Iowa was 38 percent during the first half of the year, according to new data from Gallup, five percentage points below his national average. Since notching a second straight win there in 2012, Obama's numbers have gone steadily downhill, as the following Gallup chart shows... What's also notable is that throughout his first term, Obama's numbers in Iowa were mostly stronger than they were nationwide. That hasn't been the case...

Every election cycle tells a story, but the storyline for the 2014 general election is still being written. Republicans have longed believed that 2014 would be a Republican year in Iowa, especially with the absence of a presidential candidate at the top of the ticket. Strong fundraising from Democrats seeking federal office, especially Congressman Bruce Braley who wasn’t challenged for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Tom Harkin is vacating, made it look like Iowa was leaning Democrat in the 2014 U.S. Senate race. A month into the general election, Braley’s campaign seems adrift, and Republican...

(AP) — In a setback for the tea party and libertarian forces in Iowa, establishment Republicans on Saturday nominated their candidate for a House seat in one of the nation's most competitive congressional districts. The nomination of David Young in Iowa's 3rd District punctuated the efforts of Republicans in the party's mainstream who had desperately worked to avoid repeating embarrassing losses suffered in congressional races in other states in 2010 and 2012. It also marked a rollback in influence of libertarians who had controlled the state GOP in recent years.

In the midst of all the foreign affairs stories it was probably easy to miss a bit of domestic political news coming out of the Hawkeye State yesterday. At the 2014 Iowa GOP state convention, political activists loyal to Governor Terry Branstad essentially ousted all of the “dissidents” loyal to Rand Paul, securing control of the state party for the perceived establishment. Establishment forces officially wrested control of the Iowa Republican Party from supporters of Rand Paul on Saturday, a development the victors said would help save the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucus from being marginalized and possibly spell the demise...

Joni Ernst parlayed her unusual support from establishment Republicans and conservatives to win Iowa's GOP Senate nomination outright on Tuesday, surpassing the 35% threshold needed to avoid a June 14 nominating convention, where nothing would have been guaranteed. The Associated Press called the race after Ernst had 53.7% of the vote with just under 20% of the precincts reporting. She will face Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), who won the Democratic nomination uncontested, to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). Ernst will try to become the first female to be elected to federal office in Iowa. Perhaps giving 2016 GOP presidential...

Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst has opened up an 18-point lead and is on pace to win the nomination on Tuesday, according to the results of a Des Moines Register poll three days before the primary. Ernst, who has been endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and became a household name with her hog castration ad, has 36% in the poll, which was released on Saturday evening. Mark Jacobs, the more liberal businessman who has poured millions of his own money into the race, has 18%. A candidate needs to receive more than 35% of the vote to...

Fellow Conservatives: There are two very important Republican primary elections for the U.S. Senate next week, and we need your help to achieve victory. In Mississippi, conservative state senator Chris McDaniel (R-MS) is running to replace incumbent Republican Thad Cochran (R-MS) who has been in Washington for 41 years and has voted for wasteful spending, bailouts, and mountains of debt. SCA McDaniel TV Ad - "Values"Thanks to the support of freedom-loving Americans like you, Chris McDaniel is running neck-and-neck with Cochran with just one week to go. We recently launched a new TV ad that highlights Chris McDaniel's conservative, Mississippi...

One day after her “Squeal” TV brought her national attention, Joni Ernst picks up the endorsement of Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor, 2008 vice-presidential nominee and conservative firebrand calls Ernst a “champion for life, small government, and lower taxes.” Here is what Palin had to say when announcing her support for Joni Ernst in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race: “If Nebraska’s Deb Fischer can see through the bull in Washington, then Iowa’s Joni Ernst can help her cut through the pork. Growing up on a hog farm in Southwest Iowa, Joni has taken her “pork cutting” skills to the Iowa...

It seemed more like an election night victory celebration than a campaign launch. It was unique, but perhaps it was appropriate as well. After all, for the Branstad-Reynolds team, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate. Terry Branstad made a triumphant return to Iowa politics four years ago, promising to return the state to prosperity. The governor believes he delivered on that promise. “Four years ago, I saw the future of our state getting bleaker. I love this state. I was sick of the direction we were going. I knew we could do better and four years ago, I came...

The Republican National Committee began running ads in 40 media markets Tuesday mostly targeting incumbent senators who supported President Barack Obama’s health care program. Billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, gave $2.5 million to help Democrats defend their majority in the Senate. The early action suggests Republicans see the president’s signature domestic achievement as their way to keep control of the House and perhaps win the Senate. With more than 300 days remaining before Election Day, both sides are looking to set the agenda before voters start paying attention. “Obamacare is going to be the issue in 2014,”...