Republican Senator Joni Ernst Says Her Ex-Husband Was Very Abusive During Their Marriage

Content warning: This article mentions of verbal, mental, and physical abuse.

In December 2024, it was announced that Republican Senator Joni Ernst was on the shortlist to possibly replace Pete Hegseth as President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary. Since Trump has been re-elected, the nominations have been pouring in. If Senator Ernst does step in for Hegseth, that would be particularly galling for him, as he doesn't believe women should serve in combat.

According to the Des Moines Register, Senator Ernst has over 20 years of experience in the military and has been classified as a combat veteran. Outside of military and political careers, Senator Ernst has unfortunately been at the center of a cantankerous divorce from a man she claimed was both physically and verbally abusive to her during the course of their 26-year marriage. Details to follow.

In January 2019, the Des Moines Register reported on details of Senator Ernst's divorce after legal documents had been made public. In them, she said that her husband, Gail Ernst, was verbally and mentally abusive. She also referenced a time he physically assaulted her, which led to a victim's advocate urging Senator Ernst to go to the hospital. "Gail has been very cruel," she wrote. "This has been an extremely painful journey."

In an affidavit from October 2018, Senator Ernst alleged that Gail's reaction to her successes was usually anger and often involved him belittling her. When Donald Trump interviewed her for the role of vice president, she turned him down, citing family reasons. She said this wouldn't be right for any of them.

Senator Ernst did not expect the court documents to be reported on and was shocked when some of them were made public. "I am a survivor, and I fully believe that our survivors have the right to keep their stories to themselves if they don’t want to share those stories or are not ready to share those stories," she said in a statement. "And, unfortunately, I have been forced to share my story." She found a silver lining in the situation by assuring other survivors that the abuse doesn't define them.

The divorce proceedings also included accusations of affairs from both parties. Gail said that while his wife was deployed as a company commander, she was having a relationship with another soldier. He claimed to catch her writing an email to him. "She admitted to the affair, said she was sorry, and begged me not to say anything," said Gail. He decided to keep it a secret because their daughter was 4 at the time.

Senator Ernst accused Gail of sleeping with their babysitter while she was Montgomery County Auditor, sometime between 2005 and 2011. Apparently, she confronted Gail and the two argued about it. This is the night things evidently turned physical and involved the victim's advocate. "We went through a very dark and troubling time in our marriage," said Senator Ernst.