Iowa Senate: Republican Joni Ernst defeats Bruce Braley

Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst became the first woman ever elected statewide in Iowa as she dispatched Democrat Bruce Braley for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, the Associated Press projected. The projection came just after Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time in eight years.

The campaign was riotous from the beginning, as Ernst defined her toughness by airing an ad on her past experience castrating pigs. Braley gained early ignominy when a GOP group released a tape in which he appeared to criticize Iowa farmers. He trailed in a final Des Moines Register pre-election poll.

The state saw a steady procession of would-be presidential candidates, all intent on winning friends in the first state to declare a victor in presidential contests.