- Source: 2026 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 2026 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 2026 United States Senate elections
- 2026 United States Senate election in North Carolina
- 2026 United States House of Representatives elections
- 1980 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 1992 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 2008 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 2026 Iowa gubernatorial election
- 2010 United States Senate election in Iowa
- 2020 United States Senate election in Iowa
The 2026 United States Senate election in Iowa will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Iowa. Two-term Republican Joni Ernst was re-elected in 2020 with 51.8% of the vote and is running for re-election to a third full term.
Background
After voting for President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012, Iowa has trended increasingly Republican in subsequent years and is now considered a moderately to strongly red state at the federal and state level. Republican nominee Donald Trump won Iowa in 2020 by 8 percentage points, and in 2024 grew his margin to 13 percentage points. Republicans control every statewide offices (except the state auditor's office), supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, both U.S. Senate seats and all four seats in Iowa's U.S. House congressional delegation.
Senator Joni Ernst was first elected in the red wave of 2014, defeating former U.S. Representative Bruce Braley by about 8 percentage points. She was re-elected in 2020 defeating Theresa Greenfield by 6.5 percentage points in what was expected to be a dead heat.
Republican primary
= Candidates
=Declared
Joni Ernst, incumbent U.S. Senator (2015–present)
Joshua Smith, former vice chair of the Libertarian National Committee (2022–2023) and Libertarian candidate for president in 2024
Publicly expressed interest
Steve Deace, radio talk show host
Potential
Brenna Bird, Attorney General of Iowa (2023–present)
= Polling
=Libertarian primary
= Candidates
=Formed exploratory committee
Thomas Laehn, Greene County Attorney