Free Republic

Joni Ernst is back to “hogging” Iowa airwaves, as she barrels into Election Day with another pig-themed ad, a slight edge over her Democratic rival in the polls and a significant fundraising advantage. Whether that’s enough to carry the Republican nominee to victory in the hard-fought Iowa Senate race remains to be seen. But GOP operatives, some of whom have flocked to her campaign after she emerged from a crowded field to snag the nomination earlier this year, are touting her chances in the final days of the race. The latest good omen for Republicans was in early voting and...

(AUDIO-AT-LINK)There's a woman running in the tight race for the Senate in Iowa — one of the contests that will decide who controls the Senate next year. In the 21st century, a female candidate for Senate may not sound historic. But in Iowa, it is. The state shares a rare distinction with Mississippi: It has never elected a woman to the Senate, to the House, or to be governor. Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst is trying to change that in her race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley — a race in which the role of female voters is central....

ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her funds, almost $33,000. The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than...

In a few minutes, six-term Republican incumbent Steve King will debate his Democratic challenger Jim Mowrer in Storm Lake. Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" is hosting the debate, and C-SPAN is also televising. (SNIP) He is third in offering amendments on House floor after Jeff Flake and Sheila Jackson-Lee. You can't always pass a bill but he has highest percentage of success in getting amendments passed. Mowrer says Senator Flake [of Arizona] has asked King to stop claiming that, because it's not true. They show the King tv ad I transcribed above. Mowrer asked to comment. He says it's false....

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is returning to the early presidential caucus state of Iowa on Saturday where he is slated to speak at two events. The potential 2016 Republican presidential contender is scheduled to speak at a luncheon for Rep. Steve King's (R-Iowa) annual pheasant hunt north of Akron before keynoting a birthday fundraiser for Gov. Terry Branstad (R) in Clive. King's weekend hunt, held at the Hole ‘N the Wall Lodge, has in the past attracted potential Republican contenders such as Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Christie, who will...

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...

Rep. Steve King, (R-Kiron) and Jim Mowrer, (D-Boone) Thursday, October 23 Storm Lake, Iowa

Regular readers will know that I’m a critic of the “My opponent said something objectionable and I’m outraged!” school of campaigning, not to mention the “Candidate said something objectionable!” school of campaign coverage. One of the most important rules in assessing “gaffes” or outsized statements is that if the moment was extemporaneous, out of character, instantly regretted, and not repeated, then we should give it a pass, because it probably reveals next to nothing about the person who said it. Having said that, there’s a new statement we learn about today from Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst that deserves some...

Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has canceled her meeting with the Des Moines Register editorial board Thursday as the paper works to finalize its Senate endorsement. “Recent editorials in the Des Moines Register make their position in this race perfectly clear, and it’s one that many voters across our state seem to disagree with,” Ernst campaign spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in a emailed statement. “With less than 12 days to go, time is precious and Joni wants to spend every minute talking to undecided voters, hearing their concerns, and demonstrating why we need a change in...

The picture of IA GOP SEN nominee Joni Ernst that’s emerging from exposure of her pre-2014-general-election utterances is of a standard-brand Constitutional Conservative embracing all the strange and controversial tenets of that creed. There’s Agenda 21 madness. There’s Personhood advocacy. There are attacks on the entire New Deal/Great Society legacy—and perhaps even agricultural programs—as creating “dependency.” And now, inevitably, there’s the crown jewel of Con Con extremism: the belief that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to enable “patriots” to violently overthrow the government if in their opinion it’s overstepped its constitutional boundaries. Sam Levine of HuffPost has that...

Iowa television station KWWL-Waterloo rejected a liberal ad that showed dead and bloody Ebola bodies to illustrate its accusation that Republican-supported budget cuts contributed to the Ebola outbreak. The Agenda Project Action Fund commercial, entitled “Republican Cuts Kill Part II: Joni Ernst Wants to Cut,” targeted Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst and depicted “exposed dead (and sometimes bleeding) bodies,” according to KWWL. The station rejected the ad Thursday after it aired twice on other Iowa stations. The Agenda Project Action Fund, the political arm of activist Erica Payne’s New York-based Agenda Project, played on the Democratic narrative that Republicans...

It was just another routine photo-op at a Republican field office Tuesday morning until Mike Huckabee decided to improvise. In a cheeky attempt to bring himself level with Cody Hoefert -- the 7-foot-tall co-chairman of the Iowa Republican Party -- Huckabee pulled up a chair and began to climb atop it. He didn’t have to complete the physical joke to get the laughs he was looking for from the group of gray-haired volunteers who had assembled for his appearance with Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst. “Golly!” the 5-11 Huckabee marveled. “I’ve never felt like a shrimp like this before.”

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...

According to the latest USA Today/Suffolf University poll, pro-life Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has a narrow lead over pro-abortion Rep. Bruce Braley. Among likely voters, she leads Braley 47%-43%. Ernst is an officer in the Army National Guard and has successful presented herself as a potential leader for Iowa. But a new television ad released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee attacks Ernst’s pro-life views. The ad features an Iowa nurse named Kim Tweedy who says she has worked on the sexual assault response team. joniernstTweedy says, “I’ve seen lots of cases, many of them are very brutal. It breaks your...

The political arm for House Republicans says it is making a play for Iowa's 1st and 2nd congressional district seats. The National Republican Congressional Committee said Monday that it's buying $1.3 million in television ad time in the two districts, with spots to begin airing Friday. The purchase, the first for the NRCC in both districts this campaign cycle, is a sign they think they can win both races, officials say. Tyler Houlton, an NRCC spokesman, said more than $900,000 is being spent in the 2nd District, with purchases in the Cedar Rapids and Davenport markets. Another $400,000 is going...

While Sen. Ted Cruz may be a star among tea party faithful and other more socially conservative Republicans, he has been less active on the midterm campaign trail as some candidates fear he could polarize voters, The Hill reports. More welcomed in states with tight midterms contests have been Cruz's conservative brothers in the Senate, Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who have been counted on to support election bids across the country, the Hill noted. “It’s almost exactly a year ago to the day when [Cruz] led to the government shutdown," Republican strategist Rich Galen told...

With less than four weeks until Election Day, the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s independent expenditure arm is shifting resources to increase its investment in six states, including South Dakota and Georgia. The NRSC has moved $1 million to South Dakota, plus another $1.45 million to Georgia. In South Dakota, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee made a $1 million television ad buy this week, on the heels of tightening poll numbers that showed its candidate, Rick Weiland, gaining ground. In Georgia, a new poll suggests a runoff is likely. The NRSC also is upping its investment in four other states: Alaska,...

Senate Democrats are pleading with donors to give to Rep. Bruce Braley’s campaign as they struggle to pull off a victory in Iowa and save their endangered majority. But there’s one key player holding onto his campaign cash: Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin. Despite direct appeals from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other top Democrats, Harkin has refused to transfer money from his $2.4 million campaign account to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to sources and campaign finance records....

Republican Joni Ernst and Democrat Bruce Braley locked horns in their final Iowa Senate debate last night. Katie already posted video of Ernst's terrific rejoinder to Braley's lecturing on Iraq, and Conn is keeping tabs on auspicious-looking early voting trends. Two more clips for you. The first features Ernst pushing back against Braley's revisionism on Obamacare, which he's now claiming is flawed and in need of fixing. The Republican reminded her  opponent -- to whom Nancy Pelosi assigned the task of delivering one of the 'closing arguments' for the law -- that he's boasted in the recent past of having read every last word of...

Thanks to the indispensable John McCormack of The Weekly Standard for not allowing pro-abortion Iowa Democratic senatorial candidate Bruce Braley to run away from his record. In yesterday’s debate with pro-life Republican senatorial candidate Joni Ernst, Braley claimed “I have always stated, contrary to what Senator Ernst said, that I oppose all late-term abortions that aren’t necessary to save the life or health of a mother.” McCormack patiently explained how that is not accurate. brucebraleyFirst, as a member of the House of Representatives Braley voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. H.R. 1797 would provide nationwide protection for unborn...