How Unusual Is Joni Ernst’s Exit?

More than seven in eight women to win election to the U.S. Senate serving in their first or second terms sought to retain their seat

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Iowa Republican Joni Ernst’s announcement this week that she would not run for a third term in the U.S. Senate gave Democrats a glimmer of hope to flip a much-needed seat to achieve their stretch goal of taking control of the nation’s upper legislative chamber for the 120th Congress.

Speculation that Ernst would not run had been percolating for months and though her decision to step down after two terms is not unprecedented, it is fairly rare among women to serve in the legislative body.

Ernst is one of only 64 women to serve in the U.S. Senate, including 26 in the 119th Congress. Of these 64 lawmakers, 49 did so by winning at least one term via the ballot box.

Senator Ernst is the third woman in the chamber to announce they would retire at the end of this term along with two-term Democrat Tina Smith of Minnesota and three-term Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

Along with Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona in 2024, Ernst and Smith bring the number of elected women senators to retire after two or fewer terms to three this decade.

However, prior to Sinema, Oregon Democrat Maurine Neuberger was the only woman elected to the office who chose not to run for reelection after serving two or fewer terms. [Neuberger simultaneously won her state’s 1960 special and general elections and retired at the end of her term ending in 1966].

By contrast, 29 women elected to the office sought another term at that stage of their legislative career.

Eight were defeated in the general election:

• One-termers Paula Hawkins of Florida (1986), Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois (1998), Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina (2008), Kay Hagan of North Carolina (2014), Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire (2016), and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (2018)
• Two-termers Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas (2010) and Claire McCaskill of Missouri (2018)

Ten other former U.S. Senators went on to run for a third term and were victorious: Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Barbara Boxer of California, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

Add to that tally 11 others who successfully sought a third term and are currently serving in the U.S. Senate: Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.

There are four other women to formerly serve in the U.S. Senate who won election to the office.

Two of those were victorious in special elections but did not simultaneously run in the respective general election for the unexpired term and thus served only a few months until their term expired: Republicans Gladys Pyle of South Dakota (1938) and Hazel Abel of Nebraska (1954).

Two other Democrats left mid-term after being appointed (Hillary Clinton of New York, Secretary of State in 2009) or elected (Kamala Harris of California, Vice-President in 2020) to another federal office.

As for the remaining dozen women to win two or fewer elections to the U.S. Senate currently in office, Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith is running for a third term in 2026 while West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Wyoming’s Cynthia Lummis have not announced her intentions for next year. Nine others are not on the ballot in 2026.

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