” Voters in Iowa elected Republican Joni Ernst to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, making her the state’s first woman senator.

Ernst, a state senator and lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard, catapulted to stardom during the GOP primary with ads featuring her castrating hogs and pulling a handgun from her purse. The spots also helped Ernst win support from prominent Republicans, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The woman who branded herself a “mother, soldier, leader” convinced Republicans she was the party’s best chance to turn red a Senate seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

While Ernst propelled herself to victory by painting herself as a Midwestern woman who grew up on a farm, Democrats pointed to questionable statements to claim she’s a hard-right conservative, if not a conspiracy theorist.”* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

*Read more here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/05/joni-ernst-conspiracies_n_6104820.html