Iowa Democrats set to choose between two 'fighters' in Senate primary

• State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are facing off for the Democratic nomination in Iowa's U.S. Senate race as the party seeks to win the seat for the first time in 18 years.
• Turek says he's "battle tested" after winning his Iowa House seat in Council Bluffs even as President Donald Trump carried the district.
• Wahls says he's shown he's willing to take on the political establishment — in both the Republican and Democratic parties — making him uniquely suited to win.

Iowa Democrats believe they have a chance at retaking Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat this year.

But first they need to choose their fighter.

State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are facing off in the state's June 2 Democratic primary. And, in a year when the party's voters are looking for someone who can win a tough election and stand up to President Donald Trump's administration, each candidate is emphasizing their ability to take on Republican frontrunner U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.

Turek, of Council Bluffs, says he's "battle tested" after winning his Iowa House seat in a western Iowa district that Trump carried. He talks about how he endured 21 surgeries before age 12 and then went on to become a gold medal-winning Paralympian representing Team USA.

Wahls, of Coralville, says he'll take on a corrupt political system that's rigged in favor of billionaires and corporations at the expense of the middle class. He rose to political prominence after giving a speech at age 19 on the Iowa House floor defending his two moms' right to marry.

Polling shows both candidates may have a shot.

A survey by Democratic pollster GBAO from March 10-16 found both Wahls and Turek trailing Hinson by 3 and 4 points respectively, although Turek led Hinson by 1 point after voters were given positive and negative messages on each candidate.

A poll that Echelon Insights conducted April 3-9 shows both candidates performing competitively with Hinson, with Turek leading Hinson by 1 point and Wahls leading by 2 points in a head-to-head matchup.

With early voting underway, both candidates are making last pushes to get their messages in front of voters.

Josh Turek says 'we're going to need somebody that's battle tested'

Turek says his plan was never to run for office.

"The goal of my life was to win gold medals," he said. "The goal of my life was never to be in politics."

Alongside his basketball career, Turek worked with people with disabilities at a mobility assistance company and at a nonprofit that provides adaptive sports equipment to kids with disabilities.

"I was working with individuals with progressive conditions, like muscular dystrophy and ALS," he said. "I decided to run for the Legislature because we were seeing a 1,000% increase in denial rate since Iowa privatized its Medicaid system."

The fact that Iowa had never had a permanently disabled member of the Iowa Legislature was the last bit of motivation he needed to run.

Turek talks about how he won his Iowa House seat in 2022 by 6 votes, and won reelection by nearly 6 percentage points in 2024 as Trump carried the district.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be here if my story, background, politics wasn't able to rise above the usual tribalism and resonate with independents and moderate Republicans," he said.

He says that's why he's the best choice going into the general election.

"Zach, he's a nice guy," Turek said. "I don't have too many disparaging things to say about him. But he's never even run against a Republican. He represents a Harris plus-37 district. And I think if we're going to be able to win in Iowa, we're going to need somebody that’s battle tested, that's actually gone through this."

Turek said his time in high-level sports also has given him the discipline, dedication and work ethic to focus on his goals and shut out distractions.

"When I was out there playing in an arena, you'd have at least 50% of the people that didn't want you to win and would be yelling and screaming things at you," he said. "And so what it's taught me is, just keep your head down and avoid the external noise."

When Turek was campaigning for his first Iowa House race in 2022, he would always keep one of his gold medals in his bag, dragging the bag up stairs with him as he talked to voters.

He didn't always take the medal out, but if there were kids in the house, he liked to show it to them.

"I wanted those kids to know that I certainly didn't win the genetic lottery, I went through a whole lot of adversity, I didn't grow up rich. And here's what I've been able to accomplish," Turek said. "And so if you really put your head down and you do the work, you can do this, too. It was really to show the kids, don't let your circumstances define you."

Zach Wahls says Democrats need someone with 'courage to speak truth to power'

When Wahls was in eighth grade in 2004, his first social studies assignment was watching the Republican National Convention and giving a report the next day.

On the campaign trail, he tells voters about listening to "some of the most powerful people in this country" talk about the war on terror "and then in the very next breath warn our country about the existential threat of gay marriage."

"I remember watching these speeches and realizing that they were talking about families like mine," he said.

But when he got to class the next day, he said, "I was afraid. And I did not have the courage I needed in that moment."

Wahls says he's never forgotten the shame of feeling too afraid to speak up.

That's why he says he spoke out to the Iowa Legislature in 2011, defending his moms' right to marry. And it's what propelled him to the Iowa Senate and to launch his campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Wahls said his promise to Iowa voters is that he'll have the courage to do what his eighth-grade self could not: speak out and fight back.

"I think a lot of people are looking for someone who has that courage to speak truth to power," he said.

He said that sets him apart from Turek.

"Iowans want a fighter who has that courage to challenge a broken system and the status quo that is failing our state. I think that’s the core contrast in this race for Democratic primary voters," Wahls said. "I’m willing to fight back against an establishment that has failed Iowans over and over again. Rep. Turek is being supported by that establishment."

Wahls says he's shown he's willing to challenge his own party, and "I've got some scars to show for it."

In 2023, Wahls' Senate Democratic colleagues ousted him from his role as minority leader after a dispute involving his firing of two longtime staffers. Wahls said at the time he faced resistance from the party's old guard as he pushed for change.

"It’s not an easy job," Wahls said May 6 at a Democratic forum in Des Moines. "I learned a lot during that time. There are certainly things I would do differently, but I’m able to take what I learned from that to this campaign and hopefully to the United States Senate."

Wahls said he's built a reputation for putting his constituents' interests first.

"What I would tell you is that when it comes to your vote, your job is to represent your people to the government," he said. "Some folks think it is their job to represent the government to the people — that is not the job. The job is to do what you think is the best thing to do for your constituents. I have built that reputation in the Iowa state Senate."

Candidates at odds over outside money, support for Chuck Schumer

Both candidates have assembled significant support for their campaigns.

Wahls touts the backing of more than 25 labor unions across the state, 150 community and elected leaders as well as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Turek says he has the endorsement of more than 80 Iowa leaders, including two former primary opponents and former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.

And Turek has received help from more than $6.7 million in advertising spending on his behalf from VoteVets, a Democratic-aligned PAC.

It's an amount that dwarfs what the candidates themselves have raised and spent. Turek and Wahls each raised $1.12 million in the first quarter of the year and had spent just over $2 million apiece across the entire election cycle as of March 31.

Wahls has criticized Turek for accepting what he calls "dark money" from the group, which he says is linked with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"For more than 20 years, VoteVets has effectively worked to elect veterans, national security professionals and military family members. We are proud to support Josh Turek because he knows firsthand the generational costs of war," said VoteVets Senior Adviser Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul Eaton.

On the "Iowa Press" debate stage, Wahls noted that he's the only Democratic candidate who has said he won't support Schumer as leader if he's elected.

"Unless Rep. Turek wants to join me in making that commitment here tonight," he added.

Turek said he agrees with Wahls that "we have to move away from being corporate Democrats" and to be the party of the middle class and of workers.

"I'm not a D.C. insider," Turek said. "I don't know these folks. I only have one idea with this. And that is I am not measuring the drapes."

"We are not going to beat Ashley Hinson with an answer like that," Wahls responded. "It is a very simple yes or no question. The leadership of Chuck Schumer has failed the Democratic Party. It has failed this state and it has failed this country, and it is not measuring the drapes to expect that Iowans can get a straight answer to a yes or no question about the vision of your future for this party and for our country."

Speaking with the Des Moines Register's editorial board, Turek was asked if he wants VoteVets to stop airing ads on his behalf.

"I'm grateful for support, wherever we can get it from," he said, noting that he can't coordinate with the group.

He said both his grandfathers served in World War II and his father was exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam, which Turek says caused his spina bifida.

"My father's exposure in Vietnam to Agent Orange is the reason why I ended up with my disability," he said. "And I think that I am an example of the generational consequences that when the bombs stop, the consequences certainly don't."

Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected], by phone at 515-284-8169 or on X at @sgrubermiller.