Difference between revisions 135602870 and 135603041 on dewiki

{{pp-dispute|expiry=23 August 2014|small=yes}}
{{POV|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name         = Joni Ernst
|image        = Joni Ernst - Official Portrait - 84th GA.jpg
|state_senate = Iowa
|district     = 12th
|term_start   = January 5, 2011
|term_end     = 
|predecessor  = [[Kim Reynolds]]
|successor    = 
|birthname    = Joni Kay Culver⏎
|birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1970|7|1}}
|birth_place  = [[Red Oak, Iowa|Red Oak]], [[Iowa]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|death_date   = 
|death_place  = 
|birthname    = Joni Kay Culver⏎
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse       = Gail Ernst
|alma_mater   = [[Iowa State University]]<br>[[Columbus State University]]
|religion     = [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America|Lutheranism]]
|website      = [http://www.joniforiowa.com Campaign website]
}}
'''Joni Ernst''' (born July 1, 1970) is an American politician who serves as a [[Republican Party of Iowa|Republican]] member of the [[Iowa Senate]] and as a [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] in the [[Iowa Army National Guard]]. She is the Republican nominee for the [[United States Senate election in Iowa, 2014|United States Senate election in Iowa]] in the 2014.<ref>{{cite web|tit(contracted; show full)ogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2013/07/10/republican-joni-ernst-joins-u-s-senate-race/article|accessdate=14 July 2014|publisher=Des Moines Register|date=7-10-2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Jacobs|first1=Jennifer|title=Ernst mobilizes to crash Washington's 'boys club'|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/30/ernst-mobilizes-crash-washington-boys-club/9754995/|accessdate=14 July 2014|publisher=Des Moines Register|date=2014-05-29}}</ref>
  

===Iowa State Senate===
Ernst was elected the [[Montgomery County, Iowa|Montgomery County]] Auditor in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.<ref name=20101118IR /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130710/NEWS/307109852|title=Iowa GOP lawmaker Joni Ernst enters 2014 Senate race|publisher=omaha.com|date=July 10, 2013|accessdate=April 24, 2014}}</ref>

Ernst was elected to the [[Iowa Senate|Iowa State Senate]] in a special election in 2011 and re-elected in 2012. She represents District 12, which serves the southwest part of the state.<ref name="JoniErnst"/><ref name="votesmart"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=128583|title=Senator Joni Ernst (IA)|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=March 3, 2011}}</ref><ref name="JoniErnstBio">[http://www.joniforiowa.com/bio/ ABOUT JONI], ''Joni Ernst for Iowa''</ref>

====Committees====
Ernst serves on the following Iowa State Senate committees:<ref>{{cite web|title=Senator Joni K. Ernst|url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/legislator?ga=85&personID=9761|publisher=Iowa Legislature|accessdate=24 July 2014}}</ref>
*Education (Ranking Member) 
*Appropriations 
*Health and Human Services 
*Rules and Administration 
*Veterans Affairs

==Political positions==
⏎
⏎
===Economic issues===
Ernst supports replacing the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]] with "free market alternatives".<ref name=demoines2405098/>

During the 2013 legislative session, Ernst worked on legislation which reduced property taxes in Iowa.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 27, 2013 |url=http://www.newtondailynews.com/2013/11/26/ernst-payton-speak-at-local-gop-meeting/a8bhvwe/ |title=Ernst, Payton speak at local GOP meeting |publisher=Newton Daily News |accessdate=April 10, 2014}}</ref>  She supports a "fairer, flatter, and simpler" federal tax code.<ref name=demoines2405098/>

In a May 2014 interview with ''[[The Des Moines Register]]'', Ernst expressed her support for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget, as well as a reduction in spending on [[entitlement programs]] and discretionary spending.<ref name=demoines2405098/>  She has also expressed support for a [[Social Security debate in the United States|partial privatization of Social Security accounts]] for young workers.<ref name=focused/>  

Ernst has stated that she opposes a [[Minimum wage in the United States#Federal minimum wage|federal minimum wage]] and that the minimum wage should be set at the state level. She opposed a state-level minimum wage increase.<ref name=focused/>  In response to a report by the Congressional Budget Office report of January 2014 which projected that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would cost 500,000 jobs, but would lift 900,000 people out of poverty, Ernst stated that "government and(contracted; show full) the states would consider nullifying”, referring to what she describes as "200-plus years of federal legislators going against the Tenth Amendment's states' rights."<ref name=UPI20140728>{{cite web|last1=Levy|first1=Gabrielle|title=Iowa GOP nominee says states can nullify federal laws|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/07/28/Iowa-GOP-nominee-says-states-can-nullify-federal-laws/4451406582369/#ixzz38oOQmF00|publisher=UPI|accessdate=29 July 2014|date=28 July 2014}}</ref>
  

When asked at a [[Montgomery County, Iowa]] candidate forum  in January 2014, about the Supreme Court case about the constitutionality of Obama's recess appointments, she said that if he acted unconstitutionally, he should face the proper repercussions as determined by Congress, "whether that's removal from office, whether that's impeachment." When the tape of that event was published in August 2014 by Yahoo News, her spokeswoman said that "If any president oversteps their bo(contracted; show full)r departments that we could be looking at also and I've talked about these before. But closing the doors to the Department of Education at the federal level and not just because it would save taxpayer dollars but because I do believe that our children are better educated when it's coming from the state and the localities. I do believe that we should do that.}}</ref>

In the final Iowa primary debate in May 2014, Ernst said that she would vote for a federal constitutional amendment to ban [[
Same-sex marriage|same-sex marriage]], and declared her opposition to [[Immigration reform|amnesty]] for immigrants.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joni Ernst focused on primary in final Iowa debate|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/joni-ernst-election-iowa-debate-107237.html#ixzz3BnUQimgH|publisher=Politico|accessdate=29 August 2014}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
(contracted; show full)

===Social issues===
Ernst has said she believes same-sex marriage is a "state issue". She co-sponsored a failed bill to amend the Iowa constitution to have marriage legally defined as between one man and one woman.<ref 
name=focused/><ref name=IowaSenate>[http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?Category=BillInfo&Service=Billbook&ga=84&hbill=SJR8 The Iowa Legislature Bill Book]</ref><ref name=focused/> Ernst believes life begins at conception.<ref>http://www.joniforiowa.com/issues/</ref>

==2014 U.S. Senate election==
{{main|United States Senate election in Iowa, 2014}}
(contracted; show full)isher=The New York Times|accessdate=27 August 2014}}</ref> In July 2014, Ernst's campaigning was temporarily put on pause while she participated in two weeks of National Guard duty.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jacobs|first1=Jennifer|title=Joni Ernst resumes campaign after 2 weeks of guard duty|url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/07/28/joni-ernst-first-campaign-event-after-two-weeks-on-duty/13280727/|accessdate=28 August 2014|publisher=Des Moines Register|date=
7-28-20142014-07-28}}</ref> In that same month, Ernst delivered the Republican Party's weekly address, where she criticized the health care scandal at the Veterans Affairs Department and pushed for a balanced federal budget and entitlement reform.<ref name=cbs>{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Jake|title=GOP Senate candidate: Reform the VA, balance the budget|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-senate-candidate-joni-ernst-reform-the-va-balance-the-budget/|accessdate=28 August 2014|publisher=CBS News|date=7-12-20142014-07-12}}</ref>

On August 29, Ernst and [[Bruce Braley]], her Democrat opponent in the Senate race, announced their agreement to hold three televised debates in Davenport, Des Moines, and Sioux City, the fist debate on October 11, and the the last on October 16.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://qctimes.com/news/local/u-s-senate-candidates-bruce-braley-and-joni-ernst-agree/article_a8fd0b73-7a0c-5421-8243-1eee2e236805.html|website=U.S. Senate candidates Braley and Ernst agree to 3 debates|publisher=Quad City T(contracted; show full)[[Category:Iowa State Senators]]
[[Category:Iowa State University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Montgomery County, Iowa]]
[[Category:United States Army reservists]]
[[Category:Women in the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Women in the United States Army]]
[[Category:Women state legislators in Iowa]]