ERIN MURPHY and MAYA MARCHEL HOFF Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES — Iowa voters’ ballots are going to look a lot different next fall with Joni Ernst’s announcement this week that she will not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate.

And it’s not just the state’s U.S. Senate election that will feature new names. The impact of Ernst’s decision will ripple all the way down the ballot.

Ernst’s retirement from the Senate creates just the fourth U.S. Senate election in Iowa without an incumbent in nearly six decades and the first since 2014 — when Ernst first won election to the U.S. Senate.

Toss in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to also not seek reelection this year — Reynolds made that announcement in April — and Iowa will have open-seat elections for both the U.S. Senate and governor on

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