RNC Speakers: What to know about Joni Ernst

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Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst is speaking at the Republican National Convention (RNC) Wednesday evening. Here’s what you need to know about the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate.

Ernst, 50, spent 23 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and Iowa National Guard before becoming the Hawkeye State's first federally elected female official when she won in 2014 following the retirement of incumbent Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat.

She retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel in 2015, and her daughter, Libby, is currently a cadet at West Point.

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Up for reelection herself, Ernst’s seat is expected to be a battleground as both major parties vie for control of the Senate in 2020. Iowa’s other senator is fellow Republican and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks during a media availability after their policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 7, 2019, in Washington. Ernst is accompanied by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

When she kicked off her reelection campaign last summer, Ernst hammered home an anti-socialism message, foreshadowing a steady reprise in the GOP’s 2020 campaign messaging.

“I ask you to join me on this mission to stamp out socialism and protect the important balance between government responsibility and individual liberty,” she said in June 2019. “It is that liberty that makes our democracy the greatest nation mankind has ever known.”

She’s a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and has received its top rating for her pro-Second Amendment stance.

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Early on in her political career, Ernst earned a reputation for fighting wasteful government spending. She served as the county auditor in her hometown of Montgomery County and was elected to the Iowa State Senate as legislators flipped a $900 million deficit into a billion-dollar surplus.

And she’s been vocal on issues that are important to her, penning op-eds for publications small and large on various topics. Last week alone, she called for national attention on the extreme weather that devastated her home state and lauded the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in the U.S.

Writing a piece for Fox News in April, she praised essential workers amid the coronavirus pandemic and argued in favor of granting them tax relief.

She has also championed women and sexual assault survivors in the #MeToo era. Divorce filings unveiled earlier this year alleged that her ex-husband had physically assaulted her and abused her both mentally and verbally.

On Monday, she demanded answers from the Pentagon after reports that a Defense Department employee with an alleged history of sexually harassing women retired before he could be disciplined.

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She demanded access to a full, unredacted Inspector General’s review of the matter and renewed calls for senators to support her bill -- the Compulsory Requirement to Eliminate Employees who are Perpetrators of Sexual assault (CREEPS) Act -- to “kick creeps” out of federal positions.