Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa might be headed for the exit. Multiple sources told CBS News and other outlets she’s preparing to announce next Thursday that she won’t seek reelection in 2026, ending her two-term run in the Senate after a disastrous town hall meeting in May that generated national headlines.

Ernst, 55, has been evasive for months about her plans, even as she boasted that Iowa would remain a GOP stronghold and mocked the growing list of Democrats eager to challenge her.

“Every day we get a new Democratic member of the House or Senate that decides to run for this Senate seat—bring it on,” she told the Westside Conservative Club earlier this month. “At the end of the day, Iowa is going to be red.”

But behind the scenes, Ernst has been telling allies she never planned to

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