Veteran Republican Senator Will Not Seek Re-Election: Report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa has told confidants she will not run for re-election next year, CBS News reported, which could complicate her party’s efforts to retain control of the chamber.

Ernst’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ernst, 55, was first elected to the Senate in 2014. Before that she served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq.

Republicans currently control the Senate by a 53-47 margin and nonpartisan analysts say they are favored to retain control of the chamber in next year’s midterm elections at this point.

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Iowa, once a competitive state in presidential elections, has trended increasingly Republican over the past decade. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Ernst’s seat “Likely Republican,” making it less competitive than several other Senate races next year.

At least five Democratic candidates have announced they will run for the seat.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Nolan D. McCaskill and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Matthew Lewis)