Watch Joni Ernst announce she’s not running for reelection in 2026
Sen. Joni Ernst said in a video message on Sept. 2, 2025, that she won’t seek reelection in 2026.
Former Iowa lawmaker Bob Krause is ending his campaign for Congress in Iowa’s 1st District and is running for U.S. Senate in the wake of news that Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst will not seek reelection.
Krause, a Democrat, jumped into the race for Congress in May, seeking to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. But reports on Aug. 29 that Ernst will not run for a third term in the Senate caused him to change his plans.
Ernst confirmed on Sept. 2 that she will not seek reelection.
“I have run for the U.S. Senate before and have many friends across the state and believe this will be a better fit for an ultimate victory,” Krause said in a statement.
He endorsed former state Rep. Christina Bohannan in the 1st District Democratic primary.
Krause unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2016. And in 2022, he withdrew from the U.S. Senate Democratic primary race after failing to gain enough signatures to make it onto the ballot.
Krause served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973-79.
He is a military veteran who served in the U.S. Army Reserve and Iowa Army National Guard. Krause also served on the Waterloo school board and is the president of the Veterans National Recovery Center.
In a video posted online, Krause said he cares about the Constitution.
“For 28 and a half years in the military, I pledged to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he said. “And today I see movements towards the ignoring of the Constitution and I want to change that.”
In a statement announcing his Senate candidacy, Krause said, “Today, three out of three branches of government have been captured by a party that does not seem to value that oath.”
“As your elected senator, I will fight to protect democracy through our Constitution, and will advocate for constitutional and legal safeguards to prevent anything like this from happening again,” Krause said. “I will act independently, placing Iowa and the national good at the center of my decision-making. I will avoid blindly following the party line, as our two current U.S. senators have done — much to the disadvantage of Iowa and the nation.”
Krause joins a crowded Democratic primary field that includes state Sen. Zach Wahls, state Rep. Josh Turek, Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris and former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage.
Two Republicans are already running for their party’s nomination: former state Sen. Jim Carlin and Joshua Smith. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is also expected to enter the race and posted on social media that she and her husband “will have an announcement soon.”
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
