U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst told a group in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania on Friday that she was on the national campaign trail supporting Donald Trump because Iowa was already guaranteed to support the former president.
The Iowa Republican has been on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania since Wednesday, holding events alongside other surrogates across the state as part of the “Team Trump Bus Tour” in the final stretch before the Nov. 5 general election. Ernst said that as part of the tour, she and former Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, another Iowa native, were approached by rallygoers surprised to see them in Pennsylvania.
“They’re like, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing here from Iowa? Why aren’t you back home campaigning?’” Ernst told the crowd. “I’m like, ‘Hey folks, Iowa — the deal is already sealed,’ right? We’re voting for Trump, OK. Iowa is in the bag.”
The most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, published Sep. 15, found that Trump was leading in Iowa by 4 percentage points. Trump earned 47 percent of likely voters’ support ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, at 43 percent.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart pushed back against Ernst’s claim, saying in a statement to the Iowa Capital Dispatch Friday that the race in Iowa would be contentious.
“Iowa Democrats are fired up and already voting for Kamala Harris,” Hart said. “Iowans are sick and tired of extreme abortion bans, attacks on public schools and our teachers, and other radical policies spelled out in Trump’s Project 2025. This race is going to be close, so every vote matters.”
Swing states like Pennsylvania are expected to be even more competitive leading into the 2024 general election. Trump, Harris and their campaign surrogates have blanketed the state with ads and campaign stops, hoping to win Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral college votes that may be pivotal in the outcome of the presidential election.
Though she does not represent Pennsylvanians in the U.S. Senate, Ernst said she saw her family, friends and neighbors — “normal everyday people” — reflected in the crowd.
“I have the grace, honor and privilege of serving the great state of Iowa, but Pennsylvania, I see all of you as my Iowans, too,” Ernst said. “… That’s why I’m here, is because you are good people. You are hardworking people, just like the people I represent. And I want to make sure that we are getting the representation that we deserve in the White House.”
Ernst is not the only Iowa Republican who has joined efforts to support Trump and other Republicans running in swing states. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson spoke at a “Women for Trump” event in Georgia earlier in October, in addition to stops in Wisconsin, Arizona and Nebraska supporting other Republican U.S. House lawmakers.
Ernst said she was sure many politicians on the campaign trail have told Pennsylvanians they should support Trump because of issues like border security, supporting small businesses and addressing inflation, but that her focus was on Trump’s support for the U.S. military.
Ernst served in the Iowa Army National Guard for 23 years, including in Operation Iraqi Freedom and as a company commander. Under Trump, Ernst said, the country had a strong military presence, and the U.S. and allies “saw peace that we hadn’t seen for decades.” But “the world is on fire” during the Biden-Harris administration, she said, pointing to international conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflicts.
“Kamala Harris has failed, and our adversaries see us as a weak nation, and they are taking advantage of us,” Ernst said. “OK, we need that strength back in the White House. We need a commander-in-chief that believes in developing the most lethal fighting force on the face of the planet. That is Donald J. Trump. If you want civilian leadership out at the Pentagon that believes more in ‘woke-ism’ than strength, then you all just stick with Kamala Harris.”
She said the issue was personal to her as a veteran and because her daughter is an active duty Army soldier in Georgia. Ernst said she trusts Trump to “take care of my daughter” and not deploy U.S. military forces in “unnecessary wars.”
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
