According to Iowa Senator Joni Ernst in an affidavit filed as part of her divorce proceeding last October, the only reason she wasn’t Trump’s running mate in 2016 is because her then-husband didn’t want her to.
The filing was made in October but unsealed this month after Ernst and her former husband, Gail Ernst, settled their previously contentious divorce.
Ernst wrote that after Trump interviewed her in July 2016 to be his running mate, “I turned Candidate Trump down, knowing it wasn’t the right thing for me or my family.” She says it was a sacrifice she made for her husband, who wasn’t fond of her political career.
https://milbankmonitor.com/iowa-sen-joni-ernst-says-she-rejected-chance-to-be-trumps-vp/12/03/2019/