U.S. Senator · IA
Joni Ernst
RepublicanSenate Class 2Term through January 2027
Funding profile · 2015–2020 term
30% of the money Ernst raised came from small donors.
More grassroots-funded than 72% of the Senate.
Ernst raised $30.6M across the full six-year Senate term (2015–2020), and ended the period with $528K cash on hand. Here is where the money came from.
- Small donors
- 30%$9.3M
- Large donors
- 42%$12.9M
- Bundled
- 2%$0.7M
- PACs
- 11%$3.3M
- Other
- 14%$4.4M
Against the senate
How Ernst compares to the typical member.
- Small-donor share
- 30%vs 19% senate median
- PAC share
- 11%vs 14% senate median
Who has a stake in Ernst
The organizations behind the money.
Ernst's largest organized backing comes from Votesane PAC. That counts the group's own PAC check plus the individual donations it bundled, not just the direct check.
› $3.2M in PAC money not itemized by group
Ernst collected $3.2M of PAC money through a joint fundraising committee, which pools contributions and transfers them as a lump sum. It is counted in the organized total above, but FEC filings do not itemize which PACs it came from at the campaign level, so it is not attributed to a named organization here.
Money organized for Ernst
Votesane PAC›
$193K
Votesane PAC›
$193K
Who it funds, across Congress
40% Democrats · 60% Republicans · $2.6M to 42 members
Club For Growth›$147K
Club for Growth's PAC and super PAC, backing anti-tax, small-government conservatives, often against Republican incumbents in primaries.
Who it funds, across Congress
0% Democrats · 100% Republicans · $2.7M to 39 members
Outside spending, by party
Spent $15.9M to elect Republicans; $27.5M to defeat Democrats.
Susan B. Anthony List. Inc. Candidate Fund›$74K
Who it funds, across Congress
0% Democrats · 100% Republicans · $401K to 60 members
Outside spending, by party
Spent $47K to elect Republicans.
Pro-Israel America PAC›$73K
Who it funds, across Congress
26% Democrats · 74% Republicans · $693K to 19 members
Republican Jewish Coalition PAC›$73K
Who it funds, across Congress
0% Democrats · 100% Republicans · $935K to 72 members
› What is organized money?
An organization reaches a member two ways. Its own PAC writes a direct check. And it bundles: it gathers individual donations from its supporters and routes them through its conduit. Both count here as one “organized” total. The bundled part is already inside the individual giving shown in the funding mix above. Here it is regrouped by the organization that gathered it, so you can see who did the organizing. Ernstreceived so many small earmarked donations that these figures count only the largest ones. Read every total as “at least.”
The same money, by industry
Which industries have a stake.
The same organized money, grouped by the industry of the organization that moved it. It shows the interests behind Ernst's backing, not just the individual groups.
Plus $341K from organizations whose FEC name did not sort into an industry.
The money spent about Ernst
Spent for or against.
Outside groups also spend on their own to elect or defeat Ernst, running ads for or against the race. This money never passes through the campaign, so it is counted apart from the money organized for Ernst.
Senate Majority PAC›$34.0M
To help Ernst—To hurt Ernst$34.0MThe super PAC aligned with Senate Democratic leadership.
DSCC›$27.9M
To help Ernst—To hurt Ernst$27.9MThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party committee for electing Senate Democrats.
Senate Leadership Fund›$4.7M
To help Ernst$4.7MTo hurt Ernst—The super PAC aligned with Senate Republican leadership.
Women Vote!$3.9M
To help Ernst—To hurt Ernst$3.9MLCV Victory Fund›$3.8M
To help Ernst—To hurt Ernst$3.8MThe League of Conservation Voters' super PAC, spending on environmental-minded candidates.
Senate Majority PAC›—$34.0M$34.0M
Senate Majority PAC
The super PAC aligned with Senate Democratic leadership.
DSCC›—$27.9M$27.9M
DSCC
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party committee for electing Senate Democrats.
Senate Leadership Fund›$4.7M—$4.7M
Senate Leadership Fund
The super PAC aligned with Senate Republican leadership.
Women Vote!—$3.9M$3.9M
LCV Victory Fund›—$3.8M$3.8M
LCV Victory Fund
The League of Conservation Voters' super PAC, spending on environmental-minded candidates.
FEC filings, 2015–2020 term · as of August 2026 · showing the top 5 funders of 144 organizations with a stake
About this data
FEC-disclosed receipts for the 2015–2020 term. This is the disclosed money only. Spending by outside groups that do not reveal their donors, the dark money that set a record in 2024, never appears in these figures.
Every percentage here is a share of all receipts, not of individual contributions only. So the small-donor share counts transfers, loans, and other money in its base, and can read higher than figures that divide only by individual money.
Support for requiring the groups that spend on elections to name their donors, across both parties. Congress has not passed the DISCLOSE Act.
Where Ernst stands