Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist who bills himself as a “commonsense prairie populist,” won the Democratic nomination for the state’s open Senate seat Tuesday.
Turek beat state Sen. Zach Wahls in a contest that symbolized some of the party’s ideological divisions. Wahls ran as an anti-establishment outsider who rejected Senate Democratic leadership and had the backing of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Turek will now face Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, a three-term lawmaker who handily won the GOP primary.
In the contest for governor, three-term Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra conceded the race to farmer Zach Lahn just after 11:30 p.m. Eastern. The Associated Press called the race for Lahn at 12:50 a.m.
Lahn, a political outsider who ran on a “Make America Healthy Again” platform and an “Iowa first” approach to governing, will face the Democratic nominee, state auditor Rob Sand.
Feenstra had the backing of President Donald Trump, but it wasn’t enough to get him across the finish line.
Solidly Republican
Once a purple-tinged presidential battleground, Iowa has become solidly Republican in the Trump era. The last Democrat to win a Senate race in the state was Tom Harkin, who secured his fifth and final term in 2008.
But with the coming retirement of Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, Democrats see an opportunity to flip the Senate seat.
Throughout the campaign, Turek portrayed himself as a consensus-builder who can win over Republicans, noting that he hails from the more conservative western reaches of the state.
“I am feeling hope here in Iowa for the first time in a very long time, and this is because Iowans know that we need change,” Turek told supporters after the race was called. “The status quo is not working. We need a fighter for the people, not for the billionaires, large corporations and political donors. And this is our chance to change this state.”
Turek received a massive boost from outside groups, including VoteVets, which spent $9.7 million on TV and digital ads and mailers backing him.
Wahls made Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., a focus of his campaign. He repeatedly sought to paint Turek as the favorite of Schumer and the party’s Washington establishment. Schumer did not publicly endorse in the race, but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee promoted a Turek event.
Democrat Josh Turek speaks to guests during a campaign event at the Noethe family farm on May 29 in Westside, Iowa. Scott Olson/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who chairs the DSCC, said Turek’s nomination “puts the Iowa Senate seat firmly in play.”
“Josh Turek is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist who has represented his country on the world stage and has built a reputation in the legislature for working across the aisle to get things done for Iowans,” Schumer and Gillibrand said in a joint statement.
Republicans signaled that they intend to attack Turek as a liberal who is out of step with the state’s political center.
In a statement, Alex Latcham, who leads Republicans’ leading Senate super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, called Turek “a far-left politician who is bankrolled by Chuck Schumer, and Iowans can no doubt count on Turek to repay that debt by rubber-stamping the Democrat Party’s radical agenda.”
Hinson echoed a similar theme, saying that while Turek has been “masquerading as a good old Iowa moderate, he’s nothing of the sort.”
In her victory speech, Hinson highlighted the Republican tax and spending package known as “the Big, Beautiful Bill” and touted a drop in the murder rate. But she added that more needs to be done to address rising costs. “I know that Iowa needs a fighter … and I will tell you this: I will never back down from a fight.”
House contests
In the battleground 1st District race, University of Iowa law professor Christina Bohannan captured the Democratic nomination. She will once again face Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who handily turned back a challenge from David Pautsch. November will mark the third time Miller-Meeks and Bohannan have faced one another.
In the 2nd District, which Hinson is vacating for her Senate run, state Rep. Lindsay James won the Democratic primary, while former state Rep. Joe Mitchell, who had Trump’s backing, received the GOP nod.
