With about 500 people in attendance, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said her final goodbye to her Roast and Ride fundraiser after she announced she will not be running for reelection in 2026, as she and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revved their engines and rode their motorcycles from Big Barn Harley-Davidson to the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday.
Ernst and GOP speakers tackled issues surrounding the looming government shutdown, immigration policies, and the 2026 mid-term election during the event.
Other special guests and Iowa Republicans included Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Iowa U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson, Randy Feenstra, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
Government shutdown
The government shutdown on Oct. 1 due to Congress failing to pass funding legislation before the deadline, causing a lapse in federal spending authority.
Ernst criticized U.S. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, pointing to him as the cause for the shutdown.
“He shut down the federal government to appease the far left instead of delivering for the American people,” she said. “…but Republicans are hard at work to get the government reopened and back to doing their job.”
Hinson said the American people will not be constrained by Schumer and the radicalized left.
“He is trying to play some pretty petty political games right now,” she said. “[The Democrats] are demanding one and a half trillion dollars in new spending. They want to fund health care for illegal immigrants, and that is not a negotiation, in my mind.”
Schumer refuted that the government shutdown was entirely his fault and accused the GOP of contributing to it.
“Let’s be blunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and [Russell] Vought to do this,” he said in a statement Friday. “They don’t have to do it; they want to. They’re callously choosing to hurt people – the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”
Immigration
Sarah’s Law was championed by Ernst after 21-year-old Iowa citizen Sarah Root was killed in a drunk driving accident by an undocumented immigrant.
The law was passed by Congress as an amendment and signed into law by President Donald Trump as part of the Laken Riley Act in January 2025, mandating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to detain any illegal immigrant who is charged with a crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury of another person.
Pushing to get this law passed for nearly 10 years, Ernst said she is thankful for the Trump administration for acting on the legislation.
“After his inauguration, President Trump got to work,” she said. “He made my Sarah’s Law the law of the land at his first official bill signing this year, and now no family will have to endure what the Roots have.”
Speakers also discussed the ICE arrest of the Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools Ian Roberts.
Noem said Roberts was pretending to be a citizen and didn’t deserve to be in a position of power.
“But his background and criminal record was that he had criminal possession of narcotics on his background with an intent to sell in New York, convictions for reckless driving and for speeding in Maryland and second and third and fourth degree weapon charges for having guns,” she said. “Now he’s away from your children, and he’s being brought to justice.”
“Keep Iowa red”
Following Ernst’s decision to not seek reelection, Hinson announced her Senate bid on Sept. 14.
Hinson said she has already campaigned in 20 counties in Iowa to get elected in 2026.
“We’re going to continue to get out there and earn every vote and connect with all of you where you are and hear your stories,” she said. “I want to tell your stories in Washington, D.C., and I think people are really, really fired up, not just about winning an election, but in making sure we can ride the ship.”
Grassley encouraged attendees to vote Republican.
“You worked hard to keep Iowa red, and now’s not the time to take our foot off the gas that made us red,” he said. “Democrats are motivated by their dislike for President Trump. Republicans are motivated because we’re worried about the future of our country and our kids and our grandkids need that country of liberty.”
