--- title: State of the Union 2015: Republican Responses description: Last year, there were three Republican responses to Obama's State of the Union. This year, there are five. canonical: https://time.com/3675699/state-of-the-union-republican-responses/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T01:45:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:26.698Z article:section: Politics og:title: There Will Be 5 Republican Responses to the SOTU og:description: Last year, there were three Republican responses to Obama's State of the Union. This year, there are five. og:url: https://time.com/3675699/state-of-the-union-republican-responses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc16a48b08983c90e/698762715f570f35a2b12e69/joni-ernst1.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst campaigns at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There Will Be 5 Republican Responses to the SOTU twitter:description: Last year, there were three Republican responses to Obama's State of the Union. This year, there are five. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc16a48b08983c90e/698762715f570f35a2b12e69/joni-ernst1.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # There Will Be 5 Republican Responses to the SOTU > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 1:45 AM UTC  Joni Ernst campaigns at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014. Joni Ernst campaigns at the 2014 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa on Aug. 8, 2014. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 1:45 AM UTC Nearly a half-century after the first State of the Union rebuttal, the tradition has grown exponentially. While the opposition party has given an official response to the president’s annual speech [since 1966](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/respondstateunion2.pdf), it’s now splintered. Last year, there were [three Republican responses](http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci%5F25001909/there-will-be-3-republican-responses-state-union) to Obama’s State of the Union. This year, there are five. The reasons are as numerous as the responses. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa will be giving the official Republican one, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called a “[perfect choice](http://time.com/3658355/state-of-the-union-curse/).” Ernst’s message will then be largely mirrored by Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, who will be delivering the Spanish language response, a sign of Republican efforts to reach out to Hispanic voters. But while Ernst espouses hard-line conservative views, the Tea Party also decided to offer up a response from Florida Rep. Curt Clawson, since Clawson was “the first Tea Party Express victory for the 2014 cycle” [according to a statement](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/one-presidential-speech-many-gop-responses) by the group’s executive director. Presidential politics is also playing a role. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will also be delivering a response via his YouTube channel, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will record an “[impromptu video response](http://www.breakingnews.com/item/2015/01/20/aides-sen-ted-cruz-r-texas-to-record-an-impro/)” after the speech. This proliferation of responses is a sign of in-fighting among the Republican Party, which previously set aside its differences to offer a single unified message. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3675699/state-of-the-union-republican-responses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3675699/state-of-the-union-republican-responses/"},"headline":"There Will Be 5 Republican Responses to the SOTU","datePublished":"2015-01-21T01:45:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:26.698Z","description":"Last year, there were three Republican responses to Obama's State of the Union. 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