Jackie Norris, onetime chief of staff to former first lady Michelle Obama, launched a bid for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, becoming the fourth Democrat to challenge Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa.
Norris, the Des Moines school board chair, worked on the campaigns of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and former President Barack Obama. She joins a field of Democrats that so far consists of Nathan Sage, state Rep. J.D. Scholten, and state Sen. Zach Wahls to take on Ernst in 2026.
“Look, I think it’s time for an educator in the Senate,” Norris told the Des Moines Register. “Former teacher, school board member. I have seen firsthand the invisible burdens that are on the shoulders of families right now.”
Norris, 54, was Michelle Obama’s chief of staff until June 4, 2009, when she was appointed senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Ernst has not formally announced a reelection bid, although she has hired a campaign manager. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin and Joshua Smith have said they will challenge the two-term senator for the GOP nomination. In addition, Newsmax reported last month that it is a foregone conclusion that Rep. Ashley Hinson would run for Ernst’s seat should she retire.
Newsmax also reported that Ernst is considering retirement for several reasons.
“She has gone from being considered for Trump’s vice president to losing the leadership fight [for Senate Republican Conference chair] to [Arkansas Sen.] Tom Cotton to voting to confirm [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth even though she’s a sexual abuse survivor to looking at who knows what other compromises she’ll have to make the next six years,” a retired Iowa GOP campaign operative told Newsmax.
Norris said Ernst has lost her way.
“I’m a military mom, I appreciate and respect her commitment to service, but when you cut programs to the very veterans you’ve served beside, I think you’ve lost your way,” Norris said of Ernst. “And if you stay silent when women in uniform are disrespected by the secretary of defense, I think you’ve lost your way.”
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