x
Breaking News
More () »

Joni Ernst tops Theresa Greenfield, reelected to U.S. Senate

Along with Iowa, the GOP notched key Senate victories in Texas, South Carolina, Alabama and Montana.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Complete election results can be found here or by texting VOTE to 515-457-1026County-by-county results are included in this story.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has won a second term in the U.S. Senate.

The Associated Press made their projection around 11:40 p.m. Tuesday with Ernst winning 52% of the vote. 

Once polls closed, Ernst’s Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield seemed to be leading the state, most likely due to the record number of absentee ballots cast this year.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, however, Ernst started pulling ahead before widening her lead to nearly 4% by 11 p.m.

"Monday we go right back to Washington, D.C.," Ernst said Tuesday night. "We still have COVID relief that I want to get over the finish line. I think that's paramount right now. We've still got a lot of Iowa businesses hurting. Our health care systems need to be propped up."

"There's a lot more that we should be working on."

LIVE RESULTS:

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY RESULTS:

Polls showed the two running neck-and-neck since May.

RealClearPolitics had Ernst ahead by less than two percentage points, 47.2% to 45.8%, as of Tuesday morning in Oct. 23-Nov. 2 polling.

While Democrats hoped to flip the Senate with Republicans in control 53 to 45 going into Election Day, voters in Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas and Montana all elected GOP candidates.

Before You Leave, Check This Out