ICYMI: Josh Turek Launches “At the Buzzer Tour,” Criss-Crosses Iowa With Dozens of Stops to Go

ICYMI: Josh Turek Launches “At the Buzzer Tour,” Criss-Crosses Iowa With Dozens of Stops to Go

As Josh continues to “go everywhere” across Iowa, GOP dark money group spending hits historical levels

Des Moines, IA – On Thursday, Josh Turek launched his statewide “At the Buzzer Tour” with a Get Out the Vote event in Mason City. The statewide GOTV tour will include dozens of stops from river to river in the final weeks of the campaign – from football games to farms to senior homes to speedways – where Josh will hear directly from Iowans about how corrupt D.C. politicians like Ashley Hinson have hurt Iowa to enrich themselves and their billionaire donors.

After the kick-off event in Mason City, Josh headed to Clear Lake, where he heard from parents of children with disabilities about how rising costs are impacting their lives. Then, he headed to a farm in Fayette County to hear directly from farmers about the impact of the Iran War and tariffs – both of which Ashley Hinson repeatedly voted to continue – on their harvest this season. In Elkader, Josh met with voters who are fired up and ready to elect a common-sense prairie populist to the U.S. Senate. On Saturday, he met Iowans at both the Davenport and Dubuque Farmers Markets before rallying volunteers at canvass launches in Davenport, Dubuque, and Independence.

Josh spent his Sunday rallying volunteers and knocking doors in Ottumwa with former Sen. Tom Harkin and meeting with Iowans in Clarke and Warren Counties.

See below for highlights of the first few days.

Globe Gazette: Turek kicks off ‘At the Buzzer Tour’ tour in Mason City Thursday

“Iowans are hurting,” Turek said, arguing that the state’s congressional representation should prioritize residents over wealthy political donors.
“I’m a common-sense prairie populist that’s out there fighting for the people, not for the billionaires,” he said. Turek pointed to his legislative record, saying he has voted alongside Republicans more than 700 times, including on tax reductions.
“I don’t believe that any party has a monopoly on good ideas,” he said. “I believe that the best policy comes through working across the aisle.”
As the campaign enters its final stretch, Turek said he intends to continue traveling throughout Iowa, speaking directly with voters about affordability, health care, housing and government accountability.
Drawing on his background in basketball, he compared the approaching election to the closing minutes of a competitive game.
“When I was playing basketball, I never celebrated at halftime,” he said.

Radio Iowa: U.S. Senate candidate Turek launches tour of state

Republicans are outspending Democrats in the race and Turek told the crowd it’s a signal Republicans are worried of losing this seat and losing control of the U.S. Senate.
Turek said “the country is worse off” due to the votes Hinson has taken in the U.S. House. “She has been someone that has been up there, voting for cuts to healthcare, food assistance and Social Security, just to give tax breaks to billionaires. No, enough is enough. This is when the pendulum swings back.”
“She’s not looked out for Iowans,” Turek said. “…It’s time to send a common sense prairie populist out there who’s going to actually fight for everyday Iowans.”

KTTC: One-on-one with Iowa U.S. Senate candidate State Rep. Josh Turek

[JOSH]: “One, we need to end this war in Iran so we can drive down fuel prices. Two, we need to be done with these tariffs because it’s leading to increases in cost– goods, groceries– and decimating our rural communities and our small family farms.
“I think this war in Iran has hurt Iowa more than any other state. We’ve lost three Iowans in the conflict. You’ve got gas prices that have gone up more in Iowa than anywhere. Diesel prices at an all-time high, our farmers are out there harvesting their crops, and looking at an increase of input prices like fertilizer prices.
But in the first 100 days, I would love to be able to end this war in Iran, do away with these chaotic tariffs that we’re seeing, drive down grocery prices, and really address the affordability crisis.”

CSPAN: U.S. Senate Candidate Josh Turek (D-IA) Makes Campaign Stop in Mason City

[JOSH]: We’ve got a healthcare crisis. We’ve got a cancer crisis. We’ve got a water quality crisis.
And you’ve got someone like Ashley Hinson, who in six years of being up in D.C. has made herself 15 times more wealthy. Taken $50,000 of taxpayer money just to give herself a luxury D.C. apartment even though she’s a multi-millionaire. And most egregiously, she had her husband working as a shadow lobbyist. Enough is enough.
Iowans do not want a multi-millionaire who is just looking out for billionaires up in D.C. She is someone that has been up there, voting for cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and Social Security, just to give tax breaks to billionaires.

Quad-City Times: Josh Turek rallies volunteers, visits farmers market in Davenport

Turek, who is pitching himself as a “prairie populist,” told canvassers in a west Davenport field office about his first run for statehouse in 2022 that he won by just six votes. In all weather, he went out to door-knock at people’s homes, at times dragging his wheelchair up steps to talk with voters, he said.
Turek said Iowans are “uniquely hurting” from tariffs, the war in Iran and years of stagnant economic growth and low rankings in access to healthcare. Turek pointed to Iowa’s high rate of farm foreclosures.
Turek said he’s hearing not just from Democrats, but also from farmers and rural communities that are ready for change in Iowa.
At the Freight House Farmers Market, Turek bought a bottle of wine from a Baldwin-based winery, a blueberry scone and coffee, and a necklace for his wife. “One of the things that I love about the farmers market is I get to see so many small businesses from around the state with unique things,” Turek said.
Asked about President Donald Trump’s planned visits to Iowa ahead of the midterms, Turek said he thinks, “It’s good that he’s going to come here and see what the tariffs and the war has done to rural communities and farms.”
“I’m going out there and talking to farmers, and they’ve said over and over, this is betrayal — the war in Iran, the $20 billion going to Argentina so that the Chinese buy their soybeans, not ours,” Turek said.

WQAD: Josh Turek brings Senate campaign’s final push to the Quad Cities

With 17 days until the midterm elections, U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Josh Turek visited the Quad Cities to connect with voters and canvassers as part of his final campaign push.
Turek said speaking directly with voters is one of his favorite parts of campaigning. He also said he is hearing excitement and a desire for change from Democrats, independents, farmers and people in rural communities.
“(To) get in front of as many of the 3.2 million Iowans as I possibly can and make sure that they know and understand that I am a common sense prairie populist that is going to be fighting for the people, for the workers, for the middle class, for average Iowans,” Turek said.

Our Quad Cities News: Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turek brings campaign to Davenport

Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turek brought his “At the Buzzer” campaign to the Quad Cities on Saturday, when he met with vendors at the Freight House Farmers Market.
“We’ve got to end these chaotic tariffs, because it’s driving up the cost of groceries,” he said. “It is leading to a decimation of markets and commodities and prices for farmers. We lead the nation in farm foreclosures. Now, you’ve got farm suicide rates skyrocketing. There’s so much that we need to do. People are hurting, and struggling,” he said. “They deserve to have someone who’s going up to fight for them.”
Turek says he wants to drive private equity out of housing and bring back ACA subsidies to help with health-care costs.

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Turek campaigns with former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin in final stretch before election

Democrat Josh Turek said Sunday he believed President Donald Trump “accurately identified the problem” Iowans face as they struggle with issues like rising costs — but he argued Trump and Republicans’ failure to lower prices since taking power will drive voters to support his campaign for U.S. Senate.
“I’ve got to tell you, Josh Turek has real grit,” Harkin said. “He’ll outwork you. He’ll outwork any candidate. He’ll out-campaign you. And all of the time, keeping his sense of who he is and what he believes in and what he supports. You couldn’t ask — at this point in time in our country and what needs to be done in Washington to stop some of this madness, to get us back on a kind of an even keel, not one that’s way to the right or way to the left, but an even keel — you couldn’t ask for a better person to support than Josh Turek.”

Radio Iowa: U.S. Senate candidate Turek and ex-Senator Harkin hit campaign trail together

“We’re a common sense state that has masqueraded red,” Turek said. “For 30 years they send Senator Harkin up there along with Senator Grassley. In Trump’s last term we (Democrats) win three of the four congressional races. I think that Iowans, more than almost any other state, they vote for the person, not just the party and I think, in me, they see one of them.”
Harkin and Turek addressed a crowd at Wapello County Democrats’ headquarters, then answered questions from reporters before going door knocking in Ottumwa to speak with voters.

KTVO: Josh Turek makes campaign stop in Wapello County in final weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election

Turek, who was born with spina bifida, has been open about how pivotal Harkin been in his life, saying Harkin’s key role in making the Americans with Disabilities Act legislation paved the way for him to be where he is today.
Turek says his goal is to work with both parties to expand access to affordable healthcare, address Iowa’s ongoing cancer crisis and improve its water quality. He also says breaking up monopolies, putting guardrails on data centers, ending the war with Iran and cracking down on corruption by helping overturn Citizens United will help Iowans struggling with the cost-of-living.

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