Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst has easily won the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat, positively thumping a wide-open field of several fellow GOP contenders — indeed, you could say she really made them squeal.
With 36 percent of precincts now reporting, Ernst has a whopping 54 percent of the vote, followed by her closest rival, talk radio host Sam Clovis, at only 18 percent; The Associated Press has projected Ernst as the winner of the primary. She will now face the Democratic nominee, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin. A recent poll gave Braley a lead of 6 points, but the race remains very competitive.
Ernst has had some interesting TV ads, a few of which have become viral sensations online — such as one where she fired a gun at a shooting range, asking GOP voters to "give me a shot" at ObamaCare.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But by far, her most famous spot was her first TV ad, in which she boasted of her ability "to cut pork" in Washington — thanks to her experience at castrating squealing hogs. --Eric Kleefeld
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
