U.S. Senator Joni Ernst will be the first freshman senator to give the GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union address.
President Obama will deliver the address next Tuesday.
University of Northern Iowa political scientist Donna Hoffman says this is a big honor for Ernst, a Republican U.S. Senator from Iowa. She says usually the rebuttal is delivered by a “rising star” of the party.
“By picking someone who is new to Washington, new to the Senate, the first female from Iowa, a combat veteran, a mother, all the things in Joni Ernst’s biography, they can signal with this pick that they’re not your grandfather’s Republican Party, if you will,” Hoffman says.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-KY) echoes this sentiment in a press release announcing Ernst’s speech.
“Sen. Ernst brings a unique perspective to the Senate,” McConnel says. “(She is) an independent leader who serves in Washington because Americans voted for change in the last election,”
While the State of the Union rebuttal is a difficult speech to give as the most memorable speeches are often the most disastrous, Hoffman says Ernst’s biography gives momentum in helping her resonate with viewers.