Joni Ernst Is Now in Trouble. Trump Is a Huge Part of Her Problem.

September 29, 2020

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by Art Cullen (Washington Post/Storm Lake Times) One big reason Republicans are shoving a Supreme Court appointment through the Senate before the election is their rising fear of losing the upper chamber — and the White House — in November. Those fears are well-founded. Two weeks ago, one of the most respected polls in politics found Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) trailing Democrat Theresa Greenfield by three percentage points.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll also found that all four of Iowa’s congressional races are dead heats — unusual in a state that went so bigly for Trump in 2016. The poll also found Joe Biden and Donald Trump deadlocked at 47 percent to 47 percent, a slight improvement for Biden in recent months.

Though it’s been months in the making, Iowa is now officially up for grabs. A natural disaster, impatience with bad farm economics, and a deep and abiding sense of anxiety about the country’s direction have made the state an unlikely battleground.

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Trump is a huge part of Ernst’s problem. She stood by him when he started trade wars with our biggest ag export customers: China, Mexico and Canada. Then, Trump toyed with the ethanol industry for three years while prices plummeted. And the pandemic is out of control in Iowa while Congress dithers over aid. Among Ernst’s biggest shortcomings is that she has not done enough to help Cedar Rapids, the state’s second-largest city, which was clobbered by the 140 mph winds of an August derecho.

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Then, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Ernst had no choice but to stand with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for a vote before January, lame duck or not. McConnell keeps the checkbook.

Again, that’s the problem. Our junior senator is in lockstep with Trump and McConnell on nearly every issue. Iowans don’t like that. They like mavericks, the kind that Chuck Grassley used to be. They also have a Midwestern sense of fair play that does not brook rushing a vote this important when McConnell said the exact opposite four years ago.

Ernst trails Greenfield among women by 20 points in the Iowa Poll; all those votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act left some bruises; rural hospitals are on the verge of closing, and urban hospitals are shutting down maternity wards to cut costs. Duly noted.

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Others are scared to death of covid-19 and the state’s lame response. Or they really don’t like being called socialists for taking a $14 billion farm bailout because of Trump’s trade bluster. READ MORE

Letters: Trump, Ernst keep hurting farmers (Des Moines Register)

Ernst, Greenfield trade ethanol haymakers during debate (E&E News)

Pulse of Rural America Poll: Trump Leads 2020 DTN/Progressive Farmer Zogby Analytics Pulse of Rural America poll (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Trump’s Trade Wars, Covid Response Could Cost Republicans an Iowa Senate Seat (Bloomberg)

Tight race between Joni Ernst and Theresa Greenfield in Iowa could determine balance of power in the Senate (CNBC)

Ernst must continue to stand strong with biofuel sector (Des Moines Register)

Tied to Trump fate, Ernst walks tightrope in dead heat Iowa (Associated Press)

Final Iowa US Senate debate has a glitchy start but gets down to serious issues of race, ag (Des Moines Register)

Joni Ernst’s soybean blowup shows debates really do still matter (Washington Post)

Keep Joni Ernst working for Iowa: She should be re-elected to another term in the U.S. Senate (The Messenger)

Grassley defends Ernst after soybean gaffe (E&E News)

In Iowa, another close election race for Ernst (Quad City Times)

Trump looms over Ernst's tough reelection fight in Iowa (The Hill)

In neck-and-neck Iowa Senate race, Ernst, Greenfield spar over ethanol, trade and break-even commodity prices (AgWeek)

Fighting for ethanol industry is key in Iowa’s Senate race (Times Republican)

Excerpt from Des Moines Register: Ernst, a first-term Republican, and Greenfield, a Democrat businesswoman who has not held elected office, are locked in one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country, and the winner could decide which party controls the chamber next year. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll in September found Greenfield leading Ernst by three points, 45% to 42%, within the poll's margin of error.

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Do you believe systemic racism exists?
Moderator Rheya Spigner asked both candidates whether they believe systemic racism exists.

"No. I don’t," Ernst said. "I do believe that you will find racist individuals in those systems but I don’t believe that entire systems of people — of people — are racist. There are racists out there."

As she has before, Ernst again accused Greenfield of saying "she believes our law enforcement officers in Iowa, they are systemically racist."

Greenfield said she has not called the police racist and found Ernst's statement insulting.

"Discussing systemic racism does not mean that any one individual is a racist but rather that we have to take a look at the discrimination across our systems — housing, health care, education, finance and so many other things to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to end that kind of racism," Greenfield said. "To your question, Black and brown communities have faced discrimination and systemic racism for generations."

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Why did you leave the farm?

Later in the debate the candidates, both of whom grew up on farms, each gave personal answers about why they did not pursue agriculture as a career.

For Greenfield, it was because of the farm crisis of the 1980s, when she said she saw families in her area that were devastated.

"I went to auctions where families went bankrupt and my parents, they ended up having to sell their crop dusting business, sell their hogs, and they never farmed again," Greenfield said. "And so I had to leave the rural area. There were no jobs and we couldn't farm and I headed off to Iowa Lakes Community College to begin my life."

Ernst said her sister and brother-in-law still run their family farm in southwest Iowa, but she was leaving behind an abusive situation when she went to study at Iowa State University.

"I, as a young girl, young woman, was in an abusive situation. And so when I went off to Iowa State University, I decided to study psychology. I felt that would be a great way for me to give back to my community as a counselor. So I did take a different turn, but I have remained engaged in the farming community," Ernst said. Ernst has previously opened up about the physical and sexual abuse she suffered from a former boyfriend and her former husband.

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The candidates were also asked for the break-even price of corn, in Greenfield's case, and soybeans, in Ernst's case.

"Well a bushel of corn is going for about $3.68, today, $3.69, and breakeven really just depends on the amount of debt someone has," Greenfield said as moderator Ron Steele nodded and said "that's correct."

Ernst was then asked about the price of soybeans, but began her answer by talking about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and its impact on Iowa's corn market. When Steele followed up, Ernst appeared to believe he had asked her about corn as well.

"I might have missed it, I don't think you answered my question: What's the breakeven price for soybeans in Iowa? You grew up on a farm, you should know this," Steele said.

"I think you had asked about corn, and it depends on what the inputs are, but probably about $5.50," Ernst said.

"Well, you're a couple dollars off, I think here, because it's $10.05, but we'll move on to something else," Steele said. READ MORE