Lindsey Graham advocates for Ernst in Des Moines

DES MOINES — Lindsey Graham has multiple reasons for wanting to see Joni Ernst elected to the U.S. Senate. Some, he concedes, are more selfish than others.

'I want to be a chairman,' said Graham, the Republican U.S. senator from South Carolina.

Graham made a surprise appearance Thursday with Ernst at the Greater Des Moines Partnership's candidate series at Des Moines Botanical Garden.

Ernst, a Republican state senator from Red Oak, is running for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat against Bruce Braley, a Democratic U.S. House member from Waterloo.

Graham said he thinks Ernst's military experience and fresh perspective would aid the U.S. Senate, which he called 'broken.'

He also said electing Ernst would help Republicans gain control of the U.S. Senate, which would make Graham chair of a Senate subcommittee.

Speaking with reporters after Ernst's address, Graham said the best reason Iowans have to elect Ernst is to help flip the U.S. Senate from Democratic to Republican command.

Graham, a military man himself, also touted Ernst's experience as a commander in the U.S. Army Iowa National Guard as her key qualification for office.

'Really the thing I think she offers the country, not just to Iowa, is the fact she is serving in the military, been deployed and understands what families go through,' Graham said. 'A military commander is a unique job to have in the Army. Very few people get it. To be a good commander, you have to bring out the best in those under you who are diverse, they have different political views, different religious views, and you mold it into a team. And I think that's what's missing in Washington. And very few members of the Senate have military experience.'

Graham contrasted the fresh perspective Ernst would bring to the U.S. Senate to Braley, who has served in the U.S. House since 2007.

'All I can tell you is that he's been in the government, the Congress, for eight years. I know exactly what he's going to be like in the Senate: just like he was in the House,' Graham said. 'And I really believe that she would be a fresh face for the Republican Party, for Iowa, and she offers a new perspective on Washington that's sorely needed.'

A spokesman for Braley's campaign said Braley is running for the U.S. Senate 'to fight for an economy that works for all Iowa families, not just millionaires, billionaires, and special interests.'

'In contrast, state Senator Joni Ernst had admitted that from privatizing Social Security, to abolishing federal student loans, to keeping tax breaks for companies that ship Iowa jobs overseas, her policies would have 'very painful' consequences for Iowa's families,' Braley spokesman Sam Lau said in an email.

Ernst spent 47 minutes addressing and taking questions from roughly 20 members of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which represents 21 central Iowa chambers of commerce. Ernst touted measures enacted by the Iowa Legislature during her four years there, including a large commercial and industrial property tax cut, being more judicious with new rules and regulations and producing a balanced budget with healthy emergency reserves.

'What we are doing here in the state of Iowa is working. It really is working,' Ernst said. 'So I think these ideas, these policies, we need to take them to the federal level.'

A new Quinnipiac University poll, released Thursday morning, became the latest in a long line to show the race as a near tossup. The new Quinnipiac Poll showed Ernst leading Braley, 48 percent to 46 percent, which is within the poll's 3.2 percentage point margin for error.