While two terms in the U.S. Senate is not exactly a failure, Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s decision not to run for a third term might be seen as an admission of guilt. It’s a reason to believe she has a conscience instead of the much-needed formal apology her constituents deserve after her comments at a campaign event, and her support of a certain ugly, terrible bill this summer landed her in Iowa’s polluted hot water.

Her new motto, “We’re all gonna die,” spoken at an Iowa town hall in June after a resident raised concerns about her support of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” was alarming. Not just because it was incredibly insensitive to ongoing healthcare issues in the U.S., but also because it perfectly encapsulated her lack of respect for the constituents that she was sworn in to serve. 

When Ernst first came onto the Senate scene in 2014, she did promise to make Washington ‘squeal,’ but I don’t think she ever thought that meant selling out her fellow Iowans for an authoritarian president and poking fun at very real healthcare-related concerns. Mind you, one of Ernst’s original campaign promises was repealing the Affordable Care Act.  

I could harp all day about my dislike for Ernst’s actions and words and how unfit I think she is to have held one of Iowa’s Senate seats for as long as she has, but I don’t think she’s an evil person. In fact, maybe her decision not to run again wasn’t only because of family struggles and wanting more time with her grandchildren: maybe it’s because Ernst has a heart. 

Maybe she feels bad. Maybe she doesn’t want to spout any more Trumpy ideals. Maybe she’s just a conservative Republican who knows she went too far, and doesn’t want to play Trump’s games anymore. 

I can respect that, of course, but not anything else in her political repertoire.      

Yes, Joni Ernst, unless you’re a member of the Cullen clan, it is true that we’re all going to die one day. However, as an elected official and public servant, it is your job to improve the lives and well-being of your constituents, not wave them off with a prayer of the inevitable. You should be using your position of power to help Iowans live long, full lives.

Voting in favor of the Big Beautiful Bill did not do this, and I think Ernst knows that. I think she knows she messed up and put the lives of her constituents in jeopardy, health-wise, for years to come. Her decision not to run for a third term is her way of saying she’d rather not add any more Trump-supporting tally marks to her guilty conscience. 

I get it, save your soul and all, or at least what’s left of it. But remember that I won’t forget your now infamous line: “We’re all gonna die.” And I don’t think any Iowans will either. 

Will Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), the current frontrunner and Trump-approved candidate for Iowa’s Senate seat, be any better? Seeing as she’s out proclaiming that political violence all stems from the left, I’d say not.

However, I have hope that from the ashes of Ernst’s guilty conscience comes more candidates, besides Hinson, who’ll decide to throw their hats into the Senate ring. Candidates who won’t make offhand comments about the state of their constituents’ health, but who’ll respect that healthcare is in a perilous state and work towards making sure that all Iowa residents are healthy and safe.  

So, thank you, Joni Ernst. I’m excited to see what comes of your decision to allow other candidates on the scene. I hope they’ll make Washington squeal in better ways than you did.