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CIVIC HERALD
Joni Ernst

2nd term · 11.7 years in office: 1 full term completed, 1 in progress.

Senator · IA · Republican · since Jan 2015

Joni Ernst

Bills authored 41Missed votes 5 of 214Party unity 73% derived, how we compute this

Counted from 214 roll calls and 124 sponsorship records on file.

Provisionalunreviewed: stated positions
Stray index
3110 of 15 stated positions diverge from the record
coverage 79%

Who they are · every sentence carries its source

Before the votes, a life.

Joni Kay Culver was born in Montgomery County, Iowa, and graduated as valedictorian of her high school class.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Iowa State University in 1992 and a master's degree in public administration from Columbus State University in 1995.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst Ernst served in the United States Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, commanding a transportation company in Kuwait and retiring as a lieutenant colonel.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

She served as the auditor of Montgomery County from 2005 to 2011, and then represented District 12 in the Iowa State Senate.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst Ernst was elected to the United States Senate in 2014, becoming the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress, and won reelection in 2020.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

In their own words

“In June, the Senate unanimously passed my bipartisan Stop Secret Spending Act to require OTAs to be publicly disclosed on USAspending.gov, just like all other government spending.”

Congressional Record · Aug 7, 2026 · Source

One rule for every member: their most recent dated, linkable statement about themselves.

The path here

  1. 1992

    Earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Iowa State University.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

  2. 1993-2015

    Served in the United States Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

  3. 2005-2011

    Served as the auditor of Montgomery County, Iowa.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

  4. 2011-2014

    Served in the Iowa State Senate.Source 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

  5. 2015-Present

    Serves as a United States Senator from Iowa.Source 1: Joni Ernst — Biographical Directory of the United States CongressSource 3: Wikipedia: Joni Ernst

97.66% attendance · all roll calls we have ingested

2 sources

  1. 1Joni Ernst — Biographical Directory of the United States Congressbioguideopen source
  2. 3Wikipedia: Joni Ernstwikipediaopen source archived copy
Full record card

The record card · sourced from Bioguide, the Clerk and the FEC

11.7YRS

In office · 2nd term · since Jan 2015

We hold certified results for U.S. House seats only.

97.66%

Attendance

senate median 98.13% (100 members)

Not a candidate in any election we track.

Figures cover all roll calls we have ingested.

Before Congress

  1. 1992 Earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Iowa State University.
  2. 1993-2015 Served in the United States Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
  3. 2005-2011 Served as the auditor of Montgomery County, Iowa.
  4. 2011-2014 Served in the Iowa State Senate.
  5. 2015-Present Serves as a United States Senator from Iowa.
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship chairSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and ForestrySenate Committee on Armed ServicesSenate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsSenate Committee on Armed Services · Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee chairSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Rural Development, Energy, and Credit subcommittee chairSenate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs subcommitteeSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology subcommitteeSenate Committee on Armed Services · Cybersecurity subcommitteeSenate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census subcommitteeSenate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety subcommitteeSenate Committee on Armed Services · Personnel subcommittee41 bills authored · 1 enacted

Says vs. does · 72 issues in 6 clusters

Stated position vs. voting record.

The dashed shape is what they campaigned on. The solid shape is how they voted. Where the shapes separate, the record differs from the platform. The distance is measured. What it means is up to you.

SaysDoes
  • Economy & taxes: stated 65 of 100 toward FISCAL RESTRAINT; voted 50 of 100.
  • Safety & enforcement: not yet stated; voted 51 of 100 toward STRICTER ENFORCEMENT.
  • Immigration: stated 68 of 100 toward TIGHTER LIMITS; voted 76 of 100.
  • Rights & liberty: stated 50 of 100 toward INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY; voted 55 of 100.
  • Environment & energy: stated 15 of 100 toward CONSERVE & PROTECT; voted 37 of 100.
  • Governance & oversight: stated 45 of 100 toward DISCLOSURE & AUDIT; voted 31 of 100.
Rim = strongest position on each cluster’s named pole · Same scale for every member · How we score ▸ · Share this record ▸

10/15

stated positions where the voting record differs from the stated platform.

Largest distances · by gap size

  • Trade & tariffsRecord ≠ Stated−109
  • Spending vs. restraintRecord ≠ Stated−95
  • Status for undocumentedRecord ≠ Stated+92

Closest matches

Enforcement & security ±19Use of force ±20Greenhouse-gas policy ±27

The stats, cluster by cluster

6 clusters · 72 issues · sorted by gap size

Each rail runs between two positions real bills take. ○ marks what they campaigned on; ▪ marks how they voted. Select a cluster to open its issues.

GapSorted by gap size · How we score ▸

Receipts · recent votes on passage

How they voted.

Money & ties

Who's behind them.

How complete is this money picture?

46%of the money categories we track are publicly disclosed for this member, counting those that lawfully lag.

  • Campaign financeThrough Jun 30, 2026Current · 34%
  • Corporate-PAC shareNot yet derived · 22%
  • Disclosed tradesLagged · 12%
  • Lobbyist meetingsNot disclosed · 32%

Disclosed by the FEC; we have not built the honest derivation — same for every member.

Members must disclose trades within 45 days; this picture is always at least that far behind.

A gap in the disclosure system, not a statement about this member — lobbyist meetings are not federally disclosed for any member of Congress.

Weights are fixed product-wide and disclosed, so this percentage is comparable across members.

Who funds them · 2026 cycle · FEC through Jun 30, 2026

$2.0MTotal raised · 1 ▪ = $60.0K · 34 units, rounded up

  • PAC contributions$637.3K · 31.8%
  • Itemized individual$763.4K · 38.1%
  • Small-dollar (≤$200)$233.9K · 11.7%
  • All other$368.0K · 18.4%
FEC filing totals ↗

Disclosed trades

We hold no disclosed-trade filings for this member. That is a gap in what we have loaded; it does not mean none were filed.

FEC OpenFEC · disclosed trades: House Clerk / Senate filings.

Ideology placement

Economic (dim 1)0.536
Social (dim 2)-0.027

Voteview DW-NOMINATE · retrieved Sep 7, 2026 — an external attributed reference, shown as context.

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