The former U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball player won a gold medal and is now the Democratic candidate for an Iowa Senate seat.
Video: Josh Turek speaks after winning Iowa primary
Watch the video of Josh Turek speaking after winning the Iowa primary.
Josh Turek won his first election to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2022 by six votes.
As he acknowledged the biggest victory of his career to date on June 2, he cited the campaign as evidence he could persuade Iowa voters to send him to Washington in November.
“I won my first election, regardless of party, by dragging my wheelchair up the stairs and talking to voters every day,” Turek said in accepting the Democratic nomination for Senate.
The former Paralympian, who was born with spina bifida and has become a self-proclaimed “populist of the prairie,” represents Democratic hopes that he could replace retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst and take control of the Senate in a race that has made Iowa Republicans unusually nervous.
“I was born into a working-class family in Council Bluffs, Iowa, who went to Goodwill, wore shared clothes, had the wrong color lunch ticket, and was born with spina bifida, the result of my father’s exposure to defoliants in Vietnam. “There is no way in any country on earth that someone who has had 21 surgeries by the age of 12 would represent the United States at four Paralympic Games, bring home two gold medals, and represent their community in Congress,” he said in his speech. Tuesday’s victory speech.
Here’s what you need to know about Josh Turek.
Who is Josh Turek?
Turek, 47, is a four-time Paralympian, playing on the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team and winning gold twice at the Games in 2016 and 2020.
He entered politics four years ago by winning the 2022 election in a Republican-leaning district in western Iowa. Supporters say his success in the district shows his ability to appeal to disaffected Republicans and independents in the conservative-leaning state. Amid growing economic uncertainty, he has championed access to health care, a living wage, affordable housing and other policies important to working families.
“I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless, for Iowans who can’t afford lobbyists,” he said in his evening speech.
Mr. Turek ran a populist campaign and gained national attention for his personal story and for testifying in the Iowa statehouse in support of same-sex marriage rights while his opponent, state Sen. Zach Wall, was still a teenager.
He was backed by more than $10 million in outside spending from the Democratic PAC VoteVets, which ran TV and digital ads supporting his candidacy. “Veterans across the country are proud of Josh Turek’s decisive victory,” VoteVets senior advisor Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (ret.) said in a news release.
“Josh knows firsthand what it means to overcome adversity,” Eaton said. “It’s a quality that veterans know well, and we’re proud to support him. If elected, he will fight for working families, veterans, and military families just like we do.”
Turek called former Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin a political hero for his efforts to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying, “It would be beautiful and poetic that the man who won back Harkin’s seat could be sitting here because of his work.”
In the final months of the campaign, Mr. Turek consolidated his support with endorsements from not only Mr. Harkin but also national figures such as former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Tammy Duckworth, Bob Casey and Ruben Gallego.
Why are Republicans nervous?
Polls show voters distrust Republican President Donald Trump, the war with Iran has caused gas prices to skyrocket and the cost of living remains high, so medium-term trends across the country favor Democrats.
In Iowa, the state is taking another hit as trade wars and high costs threaten to create another farm crisis for the state’s agricultural economy.
“Democrats have their eyes on Iowa,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas warned Iowa Republicans at a May 2 rally outside Des Moines.
But it will pose a challenge for Democrats in the Hawkeye State.
In Iowa, Republican registered voters outnumber Democratic registered voters by nearly 200,000, and Republicans have held the majority in recent elections in the state.
Trump leads Iowa by about 13 percentage points in 2024, and Republicans hold all six seats in Congress, both chambers of the state Legislature and all but one statewide seat.
But even though Trump held the district, Turek won reelection in the 2024 election by a margin of nearly 6 percentage points. After Turek was endorsed in the primary, independent election analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Ball changed their rating of the race from “likely Republican victory” to a more competitive “leaning Republican.”
He will face Republican Ashley Hinson, 42, a former newscaster and three-term congresswoman who was backed by Trump and Ernst. She has opposed legislation that would ultimately codify the right to same-sex marriage and advocated for support for President Trump’s 2025 Tax Cuts and Spending Act.
Contributed by: Reuters
