GOP rising star reveals how Trump's agenda will be crucial to keeping Senate seat red, lands key endorsements

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson outlines game plan to keep key Senate seat red in next year's midterms

In an exclusive Fox News Digital interview, GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson shares her campaign playbook as she aims to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

EXCLUSIVE: Hours before Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa kicks off a statewide campaign swing as she runs to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, she landed the backing of the top Senate Republican.

"We need conservative fighters in the Senate — and that's exactly what we'll get with Ashley Hinson," Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote early Friday as he endorsed Hinson.

And Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, wrote, "Having traveled Iowa with Ashley, I know she is the fighter the Hawkeye State needs to deliver President Trump's agenda in 2026 and beyond," as he and the NRSC backed her.

On the eve of the endorsements and Hinson's campaign event in West Des Moines, where she was born and raised, she highlighted in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview that she's "proud to stand" with President Donald Trump.

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Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa on Tuesday launched a 2026 campaign in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. (Getty Images)

"We have a common sense approach in Iowa, and I don't want to see Iowa look like California. I think we need to see the country look more like Iowa," she said.

 "Iowa does things right," she added.

Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles with Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points last November.

Republicans currently hold both of the state's Senate seats – Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley – and all four of Iowa's congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor.

And while Democrats in Iowa are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections so far this year, Hinson sees her support for the president as a plus as she runs for the Senate.

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"When I look at what message we're out selling, it's what exactly they voted for in the last election. Iowans overwhelmingly sent President Trump to the White House," Hinson noted.

Hinson, who highlighted that she won her own House re-election by 15 points last November, said "we're executing on what I heard on the campaign trail, which was that they wanted lower taxes."

"So what did we do? We delivered," as she pointed to the sweeping GOP domestic policy bill that the president signed into law on July 4, which extends the 2017 tax cuts and includes no tax on tips and overtime for many workers.

President Donald Trump signs sweeping spending and tax legislation, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," during a picnic with military families to mark Independence Day, at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2025.  (Reuters/Ken Cedeno)

Hinson said she is looking "forward to the campaign and showing Iowans again why conservative, solid leadership, being a strong ally of President Trump, and making sure we're going to continue to deliver on those promises, so he has a full four years to do that."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) took aim at Hinson after she declared her candidacy.

DSCC communications director Maeve Coyle argued that Hinson "has repeatedly voted to raise costs and make life harder for Iowans by voting to slash Medicaid, cheering on the chaotic tariffs that threaten Iowa’s economy, voting against measures to lower the cost of insulin, and threatening Social Security. In 2026, Iowans will reject Republicans’ efforts to rip away health care and spike costs for hardworking families." 

"I think they're misinformed at best," Hinson said in response.

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And she charged that "when I hear the lies and the fearmongering coming out of the left, it's to only cover up for the fact that they have no message and no real leader other than Bernie and AOC and now Mamdani in New York," as she referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

"If that's the direction they want to take our country, I think Iowans are going to reject that wholeheartedly," she predicted.

Hinson also highlighted that she's "been out doing public town halls. I just finished my 46th and 47th public town hall in the district, and talking about what 47 [Trump] is doing to make our country better, cleaning up the mess of 46 [former President Joe Biden]."

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa, who is running in the 2026 race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, sits for a Fox News Digital interview on Sept. 4, 2025 in Washington D.C. (Paul Steinhauser - Fox News )

During some of her town hall meetings in Iowa this spring and summer, Hinson grabbed national attention as she faced disruptions, including jeers, boos, and heated questions from constituents. The backlash was directed at her support for the GOP's tax and spend bill, which Trump at the time called his One Big Beautiful Bill.

"I think that it is really important to be transparent and accessible, and I will go out and defend our agenda anytime, anywhere, and talk with Iowans," she said.

But she lamented that "unfortunately, what we've seen is, like in my town halls last week, people just wanted to stand there, yell and have a camera in my face to try to get a viral clip. I don't think that's productive. That's why I answered their questions in a cool, calm and collected way, because I'm trying to change that by getting out and answering those questions."

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Hinson doesn't have the GOP primary field to herself. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin and veteran Joshua Smith had already entered the primary ahead of Ernst's announcement.

And five Democrats are already running for Senate in Iowa. Among them are state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, state Sen. Zach Wahls, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce executive director Nathan Sage and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa announced on Tuesday that she wouldn't seek re-election in the 2026 midterms. (Reuters)

Ernst, who announced on Tuesday that she wouldn't seek a third six-year term when she's up for re-election in 2026, first grabbed national attention in 2014 with her "make 'em squeal" ads as she won the high-profile Senate election in Iowa in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

"11 years ago, Iowans elected me as the first female combat veteran to the U.S. Senate, and they did so with a mission in mind – to make Washington squeal. And I’m proud to say we have delivered. We’ve cut waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government."

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Hinson told Fox News that "Sen. Ernst is my friend. I look up to her, and you know, her efforts in the Senate. I think every Iowan is proud, and Iowa is so much better as a result of her leadership."

And looking ahead, she said "I absolutely would love to campaign side by side with with Joni."

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."