Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s announcement that she will not seek a third term in office creates an open seat for the 2026 election. Not since 2014 — and only four times in nearly six decades — has a U.S. Senate election in Iowa been without an incumbent. Here’s who is — and isn’t — running for the seat.
Turek, a former Paralympic athlete, is one of five Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate election.
How does Joni Ernst’s decision to not seek reelection impact Iowa’s 2026 elections?
In today’s roundup of campaign news, former Iowa U.S. Rep. Rod Blum weighs a congressional comeback, and another Republican announces he’s entering the primary for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.
Former Pine Lake State Park manager Don Primus, of Steamboat Rock, unsuccessfully ran for Hardin County supervisor in 2020.
This week on the podcast, we’ll talk about candidates entering and exiting races and last weekend’s story about the new approach some Iowa Democrats are using on the campaign trail. Plus, a special election in Western Iowa for a seat in the Iowa Legislature.
Rivals no more, the two Iowa legislators hit the campaign trail together with an event in Council Bluffs.
J.D. Scholten is dropping out of the crowded Democratic primary in Iowa’s U.S. Senate election, and endorsing fellow Democratic state legislator Josh Turek, who just announced his candidacy this past week.
Iowa’s crowded field of Democrats running for U.S. Senate in 2026 pitched themselves and their campaigns to an audience of party members as they gear up for next year’s primary.
Plus, two more Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, and how Democratic candidates are talking to voters thus far this cycle.
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