Joni Ernst
Republican
· IA Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Committee on Agriculture (Chair) · and Credit (Chair) · Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Chair) · and Forestry · Natural Resources · and Biotechnology · Specialty Crops · and Research · Local Food Systems · and Food Safety and Security · and Food Safety · and Agriculture Security · Agricultural Research · and Specialty Crops · Senate Committee on Armed Services · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Waste Management · Environmental Justice · and Regulatory Oversight · and Nuclear Safety · and Water · Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Federal Workforce · and Regulatory Affairs · District of Columbia · and Census · Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Agency Action · Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Influence Score
55.6
Moderately exposed
↑ +23.7
vs 118th (31.9)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
3.4
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.3
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$20,441
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$30,960
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
5.4
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
3.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
1.9
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
10.7
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
6.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
6.8
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
4.2
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
NORPAC
$39,970 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $46.63M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $93K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 66.0 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 66.0 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 31.9 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 55.6 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Total money from this network
$50,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
WINRED
Share from this one network
4.1%
Amount from this network
$58,151
Total from all networks
$1,415,567
Networks contributing
348
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Who funds Ernst
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$624,316
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
96.1%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
9
Money that arrived near votes
$29K
Distinct donors
12
Distinct employers
9
Share of their total fundraising
1.56%
Biggest clusters of timed money
BLACKSTONE
$7K
JANE STREET
$7K
LONGFORD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$7K
COHEN KLINGENSTEIN
$3K
FIRST AMERICAN BANK
$2K
KIRKE FINANCIAL
$2K
AMSCOT FINANCIAL
$1K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$1K
GREEN BELT BANK AND
$1K
ARBITER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$500
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$118K
HOMEMAKER
$91K
CAPITAL
$55K
BLUFF POINT ASSOC
$50K
HOMEMAKER
$33K
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
$28K
CIVIC SERVICE
$28K
1ST FINANCIAL BANK USA
$27K
HAMILTON POINT INVESTMENTS
$27K
TRC COMPANIES
$26K
BRUCKMANN ROSSER SHERRILL
$25K
CIVIC SERVICE
$25K
FIRST AMERICAN BANK
$25K
MONARCH
$25K
UNITED REFINING
$25K
FIRST AMERICAN BANK
$24K
SOROBAN CAPITAL
$22K
CHARLES POTOMAC CAPITAL
$22K
ALBAUGH
$22K
CASTLE HARLAN
$20K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Joni Ernst comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$26K
Disclosed outside spending
$26K
Dark-money outside spending
$8
Share that is dark money
0.03%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
1
By funding network
SMP
$67.95M
DSCC
$55.95M
SLF PAC
$18.89M
WOMEN VOTE
$8.16M
LCV VICTORY FUND
$7.53M
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$5.45M
VOTE FOR EQUALITY
$5.01M
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$4.41M
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES P E O P L E
$2.98M
CHANGE NOW
$2.81M
AMERICAS PAC
$2.80M
UA UNION PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS VOTE! PAC (UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)
$1.86M
ONE COUNTRY FUND
$1.39M
WFW ACTION FUND, INC.
$1.17M
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO
$1.11M
Groups that hide their donors
1 smaller group under $500
$8
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
119 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $256K to Joni Ernst across 219 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$256K
Shared contributors
119
Contributions
219
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 | 12 | $5K |
| 2024 | 27 | 93 | $57K |
| 2026 | 93 | 114 | $194K |
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Revolving Door
12 former staff members
who worked for Joni Ernst or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RYAN BERGER | Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director, Sen. Joni Ernst; Legislative Dir… | NAVIGATORS GLOBAL LLC (FORMERLY DC NAVIGATORS, LLC) | 19 | 33 | 2023–2025 |
| SARAH KELLY | 2019-2022 US Senate - staff assistant, assistant to the Chief of staff, legislat… | THE DIONNE COMPANY | 7 | 10 | 2025–2025 |
| JENA MCNEILL | Deputy Chief of Staff/Legislative Director, Sen. Joni Ernst; Deputy Director of … | THE INGRAM GROUP LLC | 5 | 5 | 2025–2025 |
| KATELYN ASMUS | Staff Assistant, Sen. Joni Ernst; Legislative Correspondent, Sen. Joni Ernst; Le… | VENABLE LLP | 2 | 2 | 2024–2025 |
| DEVIN MOGLER | Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) | GREEN PLAINS INC. | 1 | 9 | 2023–2025 |
| KATHERINA DIMENSTEIN | Legislative Assistant for Senator Joni Ernst - March 2016 to January 2017 Legisl… | GENERAL ATOMICS | 1 | 12 | 2023–2025 |
| JACOB PROCTOR | Staff Assistant - US Senator Jeff Session (AL); Legislative Correspondent - US S… | PARRY LABS, LLC | 1 | 12 | 2023–2025 |
| ANDREA HECHAVARRIA | Legislative Assistant to Senator Joni Ernst; Legislative Assistant, Legislative … | TERUMO BCT, INC. | 1 | 3 | 2023–2023 |
| LIZ BOWMAN | Communications Director, US Senate, Office of Senator Joni Ernst; Associate Admi… | THE WILLIAMS COMPANIES, INC. | 1 | 8 | 2024–2025 |
| KRISTINA SESEK | Counsel - Senate Judiciary Committee; Senator Lindsey Graham; Counsel - Senate J… | SAP AMERICA, INC. | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
| STEPHEN VOLINE | National Security Advisor to Senator Joni Ernst (note: this individual did not e… | HANWHA Q CELLS AMERICA INC. | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
| JACOB PROCTOR | Staff Assistant - US Senator Jeff Session (AL); Legislative Correspondent - US S… | AIR SPACE INTELLIGENCE INC. | 1 | 2 | 2025–2025 |
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Joni Ernst sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required