一位熟悉她的决定的共和党高级官员告诉美国广播公司新闻，爱荷华州共和党参议员乔尼·恩斯特(Joni Ernst)计划宣布她将不会在2026年竞选连任。
恩斯特于2014年首次当选参议员，成为爱荷华州第一位在参议院任职的女性，也是众议院第一位女性战斗老兵。她在2020年以6个百分点的优势赢得了第二个任期。
安永的办公室没有回应ABC新闻的置评请求。
她决定不寻求第三个任期由CBS新闻首次报道.
恩斯特的决定可能会引发一场激烈的参议院竞选，尽管至少有一名候选人已经盯上了恩斯特的位置。
据同一位资深共和党消息人士称，众议员阿什利·辛森(爱荷华州共和党人)计划宣布竞选即将开放的参议院席位。
恩斯特自2015年以来一直担任艾奥瓦州的初级参议员。在参议院任职期间，她担任过领导职务，包括参议院共和党政策委员会主席和会议副主席。
在对国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的确认的旷日持久的讨论中，恩斯特是主要关注的焦点。她最终投他一票尽管她曾是军方性侵犯预防倡导者。海格塞斯否认性侵指控，从未被起诉。
她还担任参议院执政官会议主席，并直言不讳地支持削减联邦政府的预算。
她在5月下旬的一次市政厅会议上引起了人们的注意，当时她试图向一群激动的选民为削减医疗补助辩护，她回答说“好吧，我们都会死."
几位民主党人已经宣布计划在2026年竞选参议员，包括得梅因学校董事会主席杰姬·诺里斯，州众议员乔希·图雷克，州参议员扎克·瓦尔斯和商界领袖内森·塞奇。
国家民主党最近庆祝了一次特殊的选举胜利在爱荷华州，在一名民主党人翻转了一个区的州参议员席位后，特朗普在11月的选举中以两位数的优势获胜。
但自2008年以来，民主党人从未在该州赢得过美国参议员竞选。川普在2024年以压倒性优势赢得了爱荷华州，领先时任副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯14个百分点。
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst won't seek reelection next year, source says
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst plans to announce that she will not run for reelection in 2026, a senior Republican official familiar with her decision told ABC News.
Ernst was first elected to the Senate in 2014, becoming the first woman from Iowa to serve in the Senate and the chamber's first female combat veteran. She won a second term in 2020 by 6 percentage points.
Ernst's office did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Her decision to not seek a third term wasfirst reported by CBS News.
Ernst's decision could prompt a fierce Senate race -- though at least one candidate is already eyeing Ernst's spot.
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) is planning to announce a run for the soon-to-be-open Senate seat, according to the same senior GOP source.
Ernst has served as Iowa's junior senator since 2015. In her time in the Senate she served in leadership positions, including as the chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and vice conference chair.
Ernst was a focus of major attention during the protracted discussion over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's confirmation. She ultimatelycast a vote for himdespite her record as a military sexual assault prevention advocate. Hegseth denied the sexual assault allegations and was never charged.
She also chairs the Senate DOGE caucus and has been outspoken in favor of making cuts to the federal government's budget.
She garnered attention during a town hall in late May when, in an attempt to defend cuts to Medicaid to a crowd of agitated constituents, she responded "Well,we are all going to die."
Several Democrats have announced plans to run for the Senate in 2026, including Des Moines School Board chair Jackie Norris, state Rep. Josh Turek, state Sen. Zach Wahls and business leader Nathan Sage.
National Democratsrecently celebrated a special election winin Iowa, after a Democrat flipped a state Senate seat in a district Trump won by double digits in the November election.
But Democrats haven't won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 2008. Trump won Iowa overwhelmingly in 2024, finishing 14 points ahead of then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
