Trump-endorsed Hinson secures Iowa Senate nomination as Democrats eye GOP seat

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa on Tuesday captured her party’s Senate nomination in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former TV news anchor who is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, 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 crucial showdowns in this year’s midterm elections that will determine whether the Republicans hold on to their current 53–47 majority in the chamber.

Hinson was backed by President Donald Trump; Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune; the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP; and by Ernst as she cruised to her party’s nomination. Hinson, who in 2020 flipped a Democratic-held seat that covers the northeastern portion of Iowa, is seen as a rising star in the party.

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Rep. Ashley Hinson on Tuesday won the Republican Senate nomination in Iowa in the 2026 race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“It has been working Iowans from all 99 counties – and I’ve visited every single one of them – who powered this campaign and delivered a resounding victory tonight,” Hinson said in a statement released moments after her race was called.

And she emphasized, “We’re going to continue fighting every day to make life more affordable for Iowa families, to take on Big Pharma and Big Health Insurance, and to root out corruption in Washington by banning Members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks and participating in prediction markets.”

Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles, with Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points in November 2024.

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

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But Democrats are energized heading into the midterms, when the GOP as the party in power will face traditional headwinds, a challenging political climate thanks to persistent inflation and sky-high gas prices due to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s sinking approval ratings.

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

Hinson will face off in the general election against state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian. Turek defeated state Sen. Zach Wahls in an expensive and contentious Democratic Senate primary.

State Representative Josh Turek, a Democrat from Iowa and US Senate candidate, greets attendees while campaigning at the Des Moines Farmers Market in Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Saturday, May 23, 2026. Iowa is holding a primary election on June 2. (Scott Morgan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Wahls, a progressive who Republicans have likened to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, had the backing of liberal champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Turek, the more moderate Senate contender who flipped a GOP-held Iowa House seat in 2022, was backed by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and had the tacit support of longtime Democratic Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. And VoteVets, an establishment-aligned outside group, has spent big bucks on behalf of Turek.

“Josh Turek is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist who has represented his country on the world stage and has built a reputation in the legislature for working across the aisle to get things done for Iowans,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a statement. “His nomination tonight puts the Iowa Senate seat firmly in play, and in November, Iowans will reject Ashley Hinson’s self-serving politics and send Josh Turek to the U.S. Senate.”

But National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell said that “Chuck Schumer spent $10 million dollars to coronate Josh Turek as his rubber stamp for Democrats’ radical tax-and-spend agenda. In November, Iowans will reject him and elect Ashley Hinson to keep fighting for Iowa families, farmers, and workers.”

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

Hinson is aiming to succeed 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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Ernst grabbed plenty of national attention in that campaign with her “make ’em squeal” ads as she won the high-profile Senate election to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

Fox News’ Sally Persons contributed to this report.