Five Questions with Iowa’s Democratic Senate Candidate, Josh Turek

Two recent polls show him in the lead

Is an Iowa miracle possible?

Josh Turek is a four-time Paralympian and two-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball. He was born with spina bifida as a result of his father’s exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and underwent 21 surgeries by the age of 12. Now, he’s the Democrat running for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat, and he’s neck and neck with Republican Ashley Hinson, despite the fact that her spending has now topped $100 million. When Republicans are putting that kind of cash into the race, you know they’re worried. The seat is open because Republican Joni Ernst did not seek reelection.

Turek is a state representative in Iowa. He has a reputation as a bipartisan and effective leader. His life experiences demonstrate an understanding of the affordability issues that are uppermost in many Americans’ minds right now. He grew up in a large working-class family in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and has spoken about his family going to the Goodwill for clothes and relying on free summer lunch programs. This isn’t someone who is talking down to people facing tough times. And recent polls reflect that.

Decision Deck recently called the race “a dead heat.” The Cook Report says the seat “leans” Republican. Turek’s opponent has walked away from supporting Trump’s war in Iran, a sure sign of concern about what’s happening in the race. Politico noted Republicans face challenges in the state because of soaring diesel prices and backlash to tariffs. And concerns have surfaced that his opponent may have ethics issues.

Iowa, where no Democrat has won statewide since 2022, could be in play. That means Josh Turek is someone we all need to know more about. Below, he answers questions about public service and policy. You can learn more about him here.

“Five Questions” is a Friday feature for paid subscribers, built around the conversations that don’t fit into a news cycle driven by headlines and hot takes. It’s a chance to spend time with the people shaping the law, politics, and democracy—and to ask the questions that matter most, not just the ones everyone else is asking. Keeping the daily legal analysis free has always been important to me, and it will stay that way. These Friday conversations give me a chance to thank paid subscribers for their help ensuring that Civil Discourse remains available to everyone who wants to follow the law beyond the day’s headlines. Whether you’re a paid subscriber or a free subscriber, I’m grateful you’re here.

Joyce: You’ve talked a lot on the campaign trail about your sister’s cancer diagnosis. How did her experience inform how you think about the system getting it wrong, and what would you do in the U.S. Senate to fix it?

Josh: Nearly the day I launched my campaign, my sister got diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Her private insurance said they would not cover the PET scan to see if the cancer had spread to the rest of her body because it was “only” stage 2. To them, she did not have enough cancer, a ridiculous thing to say to a cancer patient. That is fundamentally wrong. Doctors should be deciding care, not insurance companies.

Unfortunately, my sister’s story is not unique. Iowa has the second highest rates of cancer, behind only Kentucky. Every Iowan loves someone who is battling cancer right now. And we have representatives in Washington, including Ashley Hinson, who aren’t doing enough to solve it.

In the U.S. Senate, I’ll fight to put guardrails on insurance companies, because no one should be denied care that’s deemed necessary by a medical professional. We also need to ensure that every Iowan has access to affordable health care and prescription drugs. Ashley Hinson voted for 110,000 Iowans to lose their health care and 119,000 Iowans to see their health care premiums double or triple. She voted to raise the cost of prescriptions for cancer patients. Just since she got to Washington, 842 health care entities in Iowa have closed. Our health care system – especially in our rural communities – is crumbling, and it’s a direct result of votes Ashley Hinson took.

I found when I was knocking doors in my very conservative state house district that even the staunchest Republicans agreed that our health care system is broken. It’s one of the only issues I found near-unanimous agreement. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll fight like hell to fix our broken health care system because to me, it’s personal.

Joyce: Affordability and accountability are two of the key issues in your campaign, as they are in campaigns across the country this cycle. You’ve tied corruption directly to affordability. Why do you think that resonates with Iowans?

Josh: We have an affordability crisis that’s the result of a corruption crisis. Iowans are buckling under skyrocketing costs while people like Ashley Hinson just keep getting richer. Ashley Hinson is a multi-millionaire who has gotten as much as 15 times wealthier in 6 years in D.C. She has taken millions of dollars in corporate PAC money. She spent $50,000 of taxpayer dollars on a luxury apartment in D.C. and $100,000 of campaign cash on lavish trips to some of the most expensive resorts in the country.

I grew up in a big working class family in Council Bluffs, IA. We went to the Goodwill for clothes and relied on free summer lunch programs. I know the struggle so many Iowans are feeling right now because I’ve felt it too. Unlike Ashley Hinson, I am not a millionaire. Iowans know it’s working class families like mine and theirs that pay the price for Washington’s corruption. That’s why we are hearing our message of taking on corruption in both parties resonate with Iowans across the political spectrum. Iowans want their representatives to be working for the people, not just for themselves and their wealthy donors.

That’s why I’m laser-focused on addressing the corruption in both parties. That means banning Members of Congress and their families from owning and trading stock, overturning Citizens United and getting dark money out of politics, instituting term limits, and mandating annual town halls for all members of Congress, because our representatives should be accountable to us.

Joyce: Your platform is comprehensive. You’ve discussed lowering health care and prescription drug costs, addressing housing and grocery prices, raising wages, strengthening unions, taking on monopoly and private equity, and making significant changes to the tax code. What is the organizing economic idea behind all of that and how does Congress fix what’s broken in the American economy? It’s a tall order for a legislative body that seems hopelessly politically polarized.

Josh: I’m a common-sense prairie populist. That means that I look at everything through the lens of “what’s going to be best for the middle class?” That’s the driving force behind all my policies.

The middle class is being hollowed out because too many people in Washington don’t know what it means to struggle. There are 73 millionaires in the U.S. Senate, so it’s no wonder they are more focused on cutting taxes for the 1% than on making life easier for the working class. We’ve just got millionaires looking out for billionaires.

We can change the way Washington works by electing more people who understand the struggles so many Americans are facing right now, because when you’ve experienced it yourself, you have a different level of empathy and a different level of fight.

Joyce: Speaking of that political polarization, in many Americans’ minds, Congress’s obituary has already been written—spineless, and incapable of delivering the checks and balances the Constitution requires of it. How does your experience in the Iowa State Legislature inform your belief that can change?

Josh: Playing for Team USA, I was so proud to represent our country and Iowa. I knew I was representing all of us – Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between. I learned that it was about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. That country over party mentality is what’s missing in Washington. Both parties fight with each other and just look out for themselves and their wealthy donors.

When I was first elected to the Iowa House, I was told I wouldn’t get anything done being in a trifecta minority. I refused to believe them. I didn’t crawl up thousands of steps just to get to the legislature and push a red button.

And if there’s one thing that I learned talking to my Republican neighbors, it’s that neither party has a monopoly on good ideas. That’s why I’ve voted with Republicans more than 700 times to make life better for Iowans. We worked together to cut taxes, lower costs, and keep our communities safe. I’m proud to be ranked one of Iowa’s most effective and most bipartisan lawmakers, because there is so much more that unites us than divides us. Ashley Hinson, on the other hand, is the least bipartisan member of the Iowa Congressional Delegation.

I’m prepared to get to work in the U.S. Senate to find bipartisan solutions to people’s problems, because that is what Iowans deserve.

Joyce: Are you concerned about our ability to hold free and fair elections this fall? And what steps are you taking in Iowa to make sure that the voters can cast their ballots and have them counted without interference from Washington?

Josh: I believe that we're going to see free and fair elections here in Iowa. I know that Iowans are struggling right now just to keep food on the table and a roof above their head and keep gas in their tank, especially because of this war in Iran. What they're going to get with me in the United States Senate, if they will give me their vote, is somebody that's going to be out there fighting for them.

We’re in this together,

Joyce