Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) Did Not Vote for Independent Judges

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) campaigned on a promise to support independent judges outside the mostly male military chain of command in cases of sexual assault. When the bill for independent judges came up in the U.S. Senate, she voted against it.

Ernst is up for reelection in 2020. I hope J.D. Scholten, the Democrat who came within three percentage points of beating Rep. Steve King (R-NW IA), the avowed white supremacist in Iowa's fourth district, runs against her and wins. Right now Scholten is working to help low-income and moderate-income working class workers become aware of and gain access to the earned-income tax break that many of them are entitled to but aren't filing for. The program is called Working Hero Iowa.

After the mutual allegations in the divorce filings of Gail and Sen. Ernst were revealed publicly, the news broke that Joni was raped by a boyfriend in college and was physically attacked, emotionally abused, and verbally demeaned by her ex-husband, Gail Ernst, who she recently divorced. And, of course, on one level I feel sorry for her. I'd feel more sorry for her if she had empathy for other women who have been sexually and physically assaulted. But she puts her Trumpism ideology, misogyny included, above any feeling of empathy for women who have suffered as she has.

If she felt empathy for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a credible accuser, she wouldn't have voted to elevate Brett Kavanaugh, an alleged serial sexual assaulter to the U.S. Supreme Court. She would have objected to the cynical ploy of Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee putting Dr. Ford on trial for alleging that Kavanaugh, now an associate justice on the Supreme Court, had assaulted her when he was 17 and she was 15. Fellow Iowan Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Judiciary Committee, treated Dr. Ford in a demeaning and sexist manner.

Despite her "pistol Annie," motorcycle mama routine, and vow to "make 'em squeal" in D.C. during her 2014 campaign, Senator Ernst has quietly served her wealthy donors and wealthiest constituents. She's taken at least $3,124,000 from the National Rifle Association and funds from other conservative donors, including banks. She hasn't made anybody squeal except the working class, the vulnerable, and government workers affected by the shutdown that she and her hero, Pres. Trump, support.

Sen. Ernst is listed as one of the vulnerable senators nationwide, most of whom are Republican, who are at risk in the 2020 election. At-risk Senators are Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) was also listed as at risk, but he resigned after being appointed to replace former Sen. John McCain, who died of brain cancer. Kyl has been replaced with Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), who narrowly lost an election to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema (AZ). Sinema is Arizona's first female U.S. senator.

If you're fond of what Pres. Trump has been doing to disrupt our government, hurt the economy, and reward the wealthiest one percent of the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us, vote for Joni. She's one of Trump's most loyal supporters in the Senate. If you're not happy with the current state of affairs, vote for Joni's Democratic opponent, who will hopefully be J.D. Scholten.