Greetings all. Excited to share a new recording from the live interview I just completed with Josh Turek, our terrific candidate who’s in a very strong position to flip a Senate seat in Iowa this November.
Josh has a history of winning in red places as an Iowa state representative and won his hard fought primary by 25 points, 62.6%-37.4%. As we’ve heard from the other candidates running along with Josh this is a year of remarkable opportunity for us in Iowa. Iowa has the most unpopular governor in the nation. Senator Joni Ernst resigned rather than run for re-election. We’ve been dramatically overperforming in state legislative special elections in Iowa for the past twenty months. Rob Sand, our terrific candidate for Governor, leads in all public polls. Democrats have recruited three terrific candidates for the three contested House seats and could flip all three this year. Iowa is blessed to have an experienced and capable state party Chair, Rita Hart, who is building the strongest statewide party apparatus that we’ve seen in a long time.
Then there’s Josh Turek, an incredible, inspiring candidate. From our interview:
State Representative Josh Turek, running for the U.S. Senate. I’m the first primarily disabled member of the Iowa legislature and I’m also the Democrat who represents the reddest district that’s represented by a Democrat. The two communities I represent Trump won by 18 points and 10 points, and I was able to win my district by nearly six points — that was 50% more overperformance than any other Democrat in the state. It’s taught me right candidate, right message, right work ethic, we can win. And this is a generational opportunity to win this U.S. Senate seat and make a change for the state and the country.
I was born and raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa — a working-class family, working-class community. Went through a lot of economic adversity in my family — we went to Goodwill for clothes, shared clothes, had the wrong color lunch tickets. I was also born with a condition called spina bifida. This was due to my father’s exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. So I had my first surgery at one day old, had 21 surgeries before the age of twelve. So both economically and on health care, I understand what the average Iowan — the average American — is going through right now, and I believe we need affordable, accessible health care for folks. I’m a four-time Paralympian, a two-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball. I got involved in politics just four years ago. I was working in health care, assessing and providing mobility devices for people with progressive conditions like muscular dystrophy and ALS. We were seeing, since Iowa privatized its Medicaid system, a 1,000% increase in the denial rate. I thought that was fundamentally wrong, so I decided to run — and was able to win my election by dragging my wheelchair upstairs, knocking doors, and talking to people wherever they sit on the political spectrum.
Now I’m running for U.S. Senate, because I believe we need more individuals in D.C. who aren’t multimillionaires, but people from places like Council Bluffs with lived experience that are going to go up there and fight for the people, not just for billionaires and large corporations. And this is an amazing opportunity we’ve got to win this thing.
In mid-August Josh’s campaign shared his first TV ad of the general election. It’s a very good one:
Despite Trump winning here by 13 points in 2024 this is a dead-even race and has been called a toss-up by many of the most important election analysts:
One thing the polls are not showing right now is what it will mean to a candidate like Josh to have Rob Sand win statewide and Dems win two to three of these House races too - will be a powerful wind at his back in the closing days of the campaign.
There are a few ways to support Josh today, and yes his opponent is raising lots of money!
Contribute to him directly,
here.Contribute to our
Winning the Senatecampaign that supports our six best pickup opportunities - Sherrod Brown (OH), Roy Cooper (NC), Troy Jackson (ME), Mary Peltola (AK), James Talarico (TX), and Josh.Contribute to our
Winning Iowafund whichsplits contributions evenlyamong Turek for Senate, Rob Sand for Governor, and the Iowa Democratic Party and its great Chair, Rita Hart.
You can learn more about Josh by visiting his website where you can also sign up to volunteer.
To get a fuller picture of our opportunities in Iowa this cycle check out these interviews:
One of the reasons we have so much opportunity in Iowa this year is because of how rought Trump’s policies have been on the American and Iowan farm economy. Here’s Josh from our interview:
It's a scary time to be an Iowa farmer right now. When I'm out there talking to farmers, what I hear is this is one gut punch after another. The administration gave $20 billion to Argentina so China would buy Argentine soybeans instead of ours, and we lead the nation in soybean production. You've got tariffs that have left commodity prices upside down. These chaotic tariffs have also driven up input prices, particularly the tariff war with China — that's where we import our potash, which is so necessary for fertilizer. You've got the war in Iran, which has driven up diesel prices, fuel prices — fuel prices have gone up more in Iowa than in any other state — and then you see this fertilizer increase because the majority of the world's phosphate moves through the Strait of Hormuz.
It's just been one gut punch after another for Iowa farmers, which is why we're leading the nation in farm foreclosures, and farm suicide rates are skyrocketing. Most recently, there's this idea to import foreign beef, which is going to undercut even more our farmers.
I can tell you — when we're in rural communities talking to farmers, the word we hear most, by far, is "betrayal." People are tired of it. They want someone who's actually going to go there and fight for them.
Friends, spend time with this new discussion with one of our most inspiring candidates this cycle, hit like so more will see it, share the interview with others, consider giving to help Josh win, and keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections like this one in Iowa to win, together! - Simon
Josh Turek is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist for Team USA and a State Legislator who represents the reddest seat held by a Democrat in the state of Iowa. Born with spina bifida after his dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Josh overcame 21 surgeries by the age of 12 to eventually represent the U.S. at four Paralympics.
After his basketball career ended with a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, Josh ran to represent his hometown of Council Bluffs in the legislature. Running in a seat that Donald Trump had already won twice, Josh pushed his chair up hills and crawled up stairs to talk to Iowans of all political stripes, eventually winning by six votes. He was re-elected by a five point margin at the same time Trump was winning the seat by eight points, not only because of his work ethic but because he’s developed a reputation as a common-sense, bipartisan legislator.
Josh is committed to shaping economic policy decisions that benefit the middle class and workers rather than Wall Street and billionaire donors. Josh is committed to alleviating the economic pressures faced by increasingly cash-strapped Iowans and their families. He is a strong supporter of public education and has been a vocal opponent to school vouchers. He has been and continues to be a relentless advocate for major reform to Iowa’s broken health care system. He is a strong proponent of meaningful and effective environmental protection - especially the air, food, and water we all rely on.
While playing professional basketball, Josh began as the Volunteer Director for the Ryan Martin Foundation, an organization providing disabled children opportunities to play sports for free. He also worked with patients and doctors at a wheelchair and mobility assistance company, to provide mobility devices and complex rehab technology to people with disabilities. In this role, Josh recognized major shortfalls in our health care system - routinely failing the most vulnerable in our society.
Josh lives in Council Bluffs with his wife Jarolin, who is an immigrant and now a U.S. citizen, working in health care.
Learn more about Rep. Turek and his run for U.S. Senate here.
