ICYMI: Josh Turek’s Overwhelming Win Puts IA-SEN in Play

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June 3, 2026

ICYMI: Josh Turek’s Overwhelming Win Puts IA-SEN in Play

Josh Turek is a working class fighter who can hold multi-millionaire Ashley Hinson accountable

Des Moines, IA – After Josh Turek “dominated Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary,” “posting a double-digit victory” last night, race raters and political analysts had one key take away: With Josh Turek as the nominee, Iowa’s Senate race is firmly in play.

In the hours since, local and national media have blanketed airwaves with Josh’s path to winning this U.S. Senate race, building a coalition to win in Iowa, and holding Ashley Hinson accountable for selling out Iowans to make herself and her billionaire corporate donors richer.

Missed it? See the highlights below:

Cook Political Report: “The overall environment in the Hawkeye State is an increasingly favorable one for Democrats given backlash to tariffs and rising fuel and fertilizer prices as a result of the Iran War…As such, we are shifting the Iowa Senate race to a more competitive category as well…Turek’s life story will resonate with independent and disaffected GOP voters…Turek also has a history of winning in areas President Donald Trump carried.”

NBC News: Turek then turned his focus to Hinson. “She does not represent Iowa and does not represent our values,” Turek said. “And tonight, Iowa, we have had enough.”

New York Times: “Running as a self-described “prairie populist,” Mr. Turek, 47, cast himself as a “battle-tested” candidate who could win the support of independents and Republicans in a state President Trump won three times…“I outperformed the top of the ticket by Trump by 50 percent, more than any other Democrat in the state,” Mr. Turek said at a debate last month. “I know what it takes to win.”

Des Moines Register: A pair of election forecasters are shifting Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat to a more competitive category with the nomination of Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek…Turek, a gold medal-winning Paralympian who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, argued he is “battle tested” after winning his Iowa House seat in a western Iowa district that Trump also carried in 2024.

POLITICO: “You go into these rural communities, the word that I hear the most is ‘betrayal,’” Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, told POLITICO in an interview late Tuesday night after winning his primary. “We’re leading the nation in farm foreclosures. Farm suicide rates skyrocketing. And so the Trump signs and Trump flags are coming down, because they say we’ve been betrayed.”

NOTUS: State Rep. Josh Turek dominated Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night, posting a double-digit victory…Now Democrats see Turek as a potentially pivotal candidate for their hopes of winning a Senate majority in November.

MS NOW: “Ashley has a lot to answer for. She has not looked out for Iowans, she’s just looked out for the billionaires and the large corporations, the donors, the lobbyists … she’s just been a rubber stamp for Trump and looked out for the haves, for the 1%, and Iowans are falling behind, and they’re ready for change.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: “My story is truly the American Dream,” Turek said. “In no other country on earth could someone born into a working-class family from Council Bluffs, Iowa, who went to the Goodwill, shared clothes, had the wrong color lunch ticket, who was born with my disability of spina bifida due to my father’s exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, who had 21 surgeons before the age of 12, be able to represent the United States in four Paralympic games and bring home two gold medals, and represent their community in the legislature. Only in America is that possible. And I am running for the United States Senate to protect that American dream for future generations.”

WQAD: “Over the last nine months, Iowans have gotten to know Josh Turek and learned about his working-class background, his ability to overcome long odds, and his proven record of working with anyone to get things done for Iowa. Over the next 153 days, the Josh Turek for Iowa campaign will define Ashley Hinson as a self-interested multi-millionaire who has sold out Iowans to make herself and her billionaire corporate donors richer, all while continuing our ‘go everywhere’ approach to build a winning coalition and flip Iowa’s Senate seat.”

NPR: “We moved that race rating last night to reflect the fact that that has become increasingly competitive. Josh Turek, who is a state representative from the Council Bluffs area. He is a candidate with an intriguing background and he’s hoping to put some of the party’s discontent, the overall electorate’s discontent, with the state of the economy in play. In that Senate race, we moved it to Lean Republican… This is, you know, a race that. Democrats feel increasingly optimistic about.”

MS NOW: In Iowa, the matchup is set for a Senate race that could help tilt the balance of power in the upper chamber. [Josh]: “Iowans know that we need change. The status quo is not working.” … Turek is making the case that he can appeal to Republicans in a state Trump won in 2024 by double digits. [Josh]: “Whether you voted for me today or not. Whether you support me in November or not, I will fight for you. All of you.”

MS NOW: “And that primary was an absolute shellacking. Josh Turek beating his primary opponent Zach Wahls by about 25 points. Turek running a lot on his bio. He has an inspirational life story as a 2x gold medalist, one-time bronze medalist for Team USA in wheelchair basketball.”

Bloomberg Radio: “Turek is a very, very attractive candidate. He not only won, he won by like two to one out there, and you can hardly hear about his life story or meet him or listen to him talk and not be moved by what he has done and what he may be able to do. So I think in this case, Democrats chose a strong and the right candidate with a real shot of winning Iowa.”

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