Conservative senator Joni Ernst faces tough crowd in liberal Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Ia. — Like a lot of people, Janice Weiner brought a handwritten sign to Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s town meeting on the University of Iowa campus here in the deepest blue pocket of the state.

Unlike most of the others, though, its message was aimed at the largely progressive crowd rather than the ardently conservative senator: “Be polite. But pointed.”

Well, they certainly were pointed.

The 750-strong crowd peppered Ernst with questions throughout the hourlong forum, and frequently punctuated her answers with boos, shouts and jeers. At least two attendees were escorted out by police before it ended, and a dozen or so more walked out on their own accord, chanting, “We’ve heard enough!”

Most of the discussion centered on health care, and the Graham-Cassidy proposal that has dominated the national discussion this week.

Although the issue was deflated somewhat by the news earlier Friday that U.S. Sen. John McCain would oppose the measure, the crowd was widely against it and repeatedly challenged Ernst to explain her position — she’s generally supportive — and defend its provisions.

Her arguments — that lawmakers must do something to fix the individual health insurance market and that Graham-Cassidy’s moves to block-grant Medicaid could allow states more flexibility to innovate on coverage — were largely rejected.

“Really, if I said anything — if I said the sky was blue with regard to this health care bill — you would disagree,” Ernst told the crowd with evident frustration at one point.

She was also asked about universal health coverage through a “Medicare for all” program — an idea that won hearty cheers and applause in the room but which Ernst dismissed as “pie in the sky.”

In a later exchange, retired University of Iowa law professor John Whiston likened the GOP sales pitch for health care reform to the lies government officials told Americans about military successes during the Vietnam War.

“John, the comparison that you made between the Vietnam War and this bill is reprehensible,” Ernst replied, unleashing a torrent of shouts and boos.

Weiner, the woman with the “be polite” sign, said she appreciated Ernst’s willingness to hold an open-to-the-public town meeting in a place where many disagree with her policies and most voted against her candidacy.

“We’re also her constituents,” said Weiner, a 59-year-old retired Foreign Service officer from Iowa City. “My basic message is, show leadership and do what is right for Iowans — not just what is right for the Republican Party, but what is really in the best interest of Iowans.”

Ernst said afterward she found value in the discussion.

“Actually, I expected much worse,” Ernst said during a news conference. “I know that tensions are running high. There’s a lot of passionate feelings in this area, but Iowa has once again proven that we can have civil discourse. We can discuss these issues, hear from constituents and do it in a manner that will eventually be productive.”

Ernst visits all 99 counties every year but has not held open town meetings in Johnson County since winning election to the Senate in 2014. In 2016, she attended an event with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa; in 2015, she toured the Iowa City office of Oral-B Laboratories.

Beyond health care, Ernst fielded questions about Confederate monuments, the opioid crisis, criminal justice reform, and public funding for private education, among other hot-button issues.

At one point, a man in the crowd interrupted another person asking a question to demand Ernst’s views on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era executive order shielding immigrants brought to the country illegally as children from deportation. The order was recently rescinded by President Donald Trump.

The man was shushed by several in the crowd, and Ernst ignored him. A few minutes later, Jeanine Grady, a church secretary from Marshalltown, was called on to ask a question.

“I will admonish the young man who spoke while one of your supporters was asking a question,” Grady said — before repeating the man’s question and securing an answer from Ernst.

The town hall began just hours after McCain announced he would not support the Graham-Cassidy health care bill, dealing a major setback and perhaps killing the legislation.

“Good for him,” Leann Cortimiglia said when informed by a reporter of McCain’s announcement. “You know what I want to hear? That Joni Ernst is against it.”

Cortimiglia, 59, of Iowa City, is a retired nurse now living with end-stage liver disease. She worried that the Graham-Cassidy bill and other GOP-led reform efforts could drive up the costs of medications or allow insurers to discriminate against her, raising her premiums to unaffordable levels.

“Without my medication, I’m pretty much gone,” she said.

Still, Cortimiglia also credited Ernst for showing up and for the responsiveness of her office overall.

“Her people always answer the phones, and she’s brave enough to come to Iowa City,” she said. “I know it’s hard for Republicans to come here, knowing that Democrats are so well-organized.”