Inside Iowa Politics: Here’s the request Sen. Joni Ernst has for Donald Trump

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray TV State Capitol Bureau) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst endorsed Donald Trump for president after former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley suspended her campaign but she wants him to change his behavior.

“I appreciate that the former president, Donald Trump, can be very hard-hitting and that’s o.k.,” Ernst said. “…except when it comes in the form of personal attacks.”

Trump has previously criticized Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, among others, after she endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis before the state’s Republican caucuses rather than Trump.

“Two extremely disloyal people getting together is, however, a very beautiful thing to watch,” Trump posted on social media. “They can now remain loyal to each other because nobody else wants them!!!”

Ernst, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard, wants one group of Americans in particular off limits from his personal attacks: veterans. “…Especially to our service members,” she said.

Trump claimed that bone spurs in one of his feet prevented him from serving in the military.

Meanwhile, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart is looking ahead to the 2028 caucuses after her party experimented with a hybrid version in 2024. After the Democratic National Committee stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status to hold its statewide contest before all others like it has done since 1972, Iowa Democrats devised a new plan.

In 2020, the state party was plagued with problems on caucus night when a phone app designed to collect precinct results didn’t work, volunteers weren’t properly trained and the party didn’t have a backup plan by phone for local leaders to use.

State leaders also addressed criticism — that they have heard for years — that caucuses, which require participants to meet in person at a designated time and location on caucus night, restrict some Iowans who face work, family, health, travel, school, mobility or weather challenges from arriving.

This year they allowed participants to request a presidential preference card from the state party, designate their top candidate choice and then mail it back by March 5th.

That meant results went public on Super Tuesday when nearly one-third of other states held their nominating contests.

Hart said the new version potentially allowed new participants this year, even though only about 12,000 people returned the cards. “There’s going to be a definite opportunity to improve the process even further,” Hart said as she discussed 2028′s early plans.

Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann on Friday criticized Democrats’ new plan and challenged them to defy national critics and work to return their caucuses, in the traditional form, in 2028.

The party could consider drop boxes as another option for participants who don’t feel comfortable mailing back their presidential preference cards. Hart also wants Democrats to think about replicating the excitement and pep rally feel that traditional in-person caucuses can create. “We’ve talked about how these need to be re-imagined,” she said.

About the author: Midwest native Dave Price has been covering local, state and national politics from Iowa since 2001. He has written two books about the Iowa Caucuses (“Caucus Chaos” and “Caucus Chaos Trump”). Email him at dave.price@gray.tv. Follow him on X (Twitter): @idaveprice Meta/Facebook: DavePriceNews Instagram: idaveprice and LinkedIn: Dave Price.

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