State Rep. Josh Turek won Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, overcoming state Sen. Zach Wahls in a closely watched contest that became an early test of whether anti-establishment Democratic messaging and attacks on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could gain traction with primary voters in a state President Donald Trump has carried three times.
The Associated Press called the race for Turek at 9:42 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. With 38% of the ballots counted, Turek led with 63.1% of the vote to Wahls’s 36.9%.
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Turek entered Election Day with the backing of prominent Iowa Democrats, millions in outside spending from Democratic-aligned groups, and a late polling surge that transformed the race from a competitive primary into one where he appeared to hold a clear advantage. RealClearPolitics polling averages showed Turek leading by roughly 20 points in the race’s final public surveys after Wahls had led earlier in the year.
The race drew national attention as one of the first Democratic Senate primaries this cycle to expose growing tensions inside the party over leadership, electability, and how aggressively candidates should distance themselves from Washington Democrats.
While national Democrats quietly signaled a preference for Turek, Wahls centered much of his campaign around arguing Democratic leadership had become disconnected from voters. Wahls repeatedly tied Turek to Schumer and outside political groups, portraying himself as an independent-minded populist better positioned to reconnect with swing voters in Iowa.
Neither Schumer nor the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee endorsed in the race, though Democratic-aligned groups spent heavily boosting Turek. VoteVets alone poured nearly $10 million into the primary, according to AdImpact.
Turek, a former Paralympian and two-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, emphasized his record winning in a Trump district and framed himself as the Democrat best positioned to compete statewide against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) in November.
Hinson sailed to the nomination after Republicans coalesced around her campaign following Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) retirement announcement last year. She quickly scored the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and Trump. The four-term congresswoman enters November as the favorite, but Democrats believe they can compete for the Senate seat with competitive races up and down the ballot in Iowa. Both parties have ad reservations for the fall, making for a possibly expensive contest.
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Senate Leadership Fund, the main Republican super PAC, has reserved roughly $29 million in advertising in Iowa, while Senate Majority PAC has reserved about $13 million on the Democratic side.
The Iowa primary is expected to provide an early signal for Democratic Senate contests in Michigan and Minnesota, where candidates have similarly distanced themselves from Schumer and the party establishment.
