Iowa Republican targets GOP Sen Joni Ernst for ouster, saying 'she doesn't vote like' Republicans

Carlin said Ernst "may be a Republican, but she doesn't vote like one," pointing to her 42% Heritage Action for America score, which is the figure the group awarded the lawmaker for the 118th congressional session. While Carlin only mentioned the 42% statistic, Ernst's lifetime score from the conservative group is 63%.

"Good luck trying to take on this combat veteran. Senator Ernst has a proven record of conservative leadership-cutting waste, securing the border, and making Washington squeal to keep Iowans' hard-earned money in their own pockets," Ernst campaign manager Bryan Kraber said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"And she delivers for our families, farmers, and veterans. Iowans already saw through Carlin's last failed campaign, and they'll reject his desperate attempt at relevance again in 2026," he added.

He floated the idea of a return to the gold standard.

"We have to stop this free fall in the valuation of our currency," he said, calling it a "national security threat to us, as the world's reserve currency."

Hawkeye State agriculture "needs to be weaned off of federal subsidies," he said, opining that the practice "is hurting it more than helping it." 

Carlin said he believes that "foreign aid is appropriate" in some cases, but that "it needs to be more measured than what it is … currently."