Three members of the Senate Agriculture Committee — Joni Ernst of Iowa, David Perdue of Georgia and John Thune of South Dakota — are on the long list of potential running mates for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “Perhaps the buzziest” is Ernst, elected to the Senate in 2014, says political website Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
“She could demonstrate that Trump welcomes a ‘strong woman’ and no doubt, Ernst would be a stump star in her own right on the campaign trail,” says the Crystal Ball. Longtime Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has floated her name. A member of Senate GOP leadership, Thune, who also chairs the Commerce Committee, “remains noncommittal,” said the Rapid City Journal. A spokesman for the senator said Thune “is focused on serving the people of South Dakota.” Ernst made a similar demurral to Politico: “I’m just focusing on Iowa right now.”
A first-term senator, Perdue carries an “outsider background and business credentials (that) might mesh with Trump,” said the Crystal Ball. Besides Agriculture, Perdue serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, which could provide foreign policy expertise for Trump.