State Rep. Josh Turek, a Democrat, is projected to win Iowa’s Senate seat, giving his party more hope in the Midwest.
The state, for years seen as a Republican party stronghold, emerged as a surprise battleground this cycle.
In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, polling between Turek and Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, his opponent for the open Senate seat, was tight. Democrats looking to expand the Senate map saw Iowa as unusually vulnerable for Republicans and poured money into the state in support of Turek. Former President Barack Obama, whose path to the presidency was propelled by Iowa, even appeared in an ad endorsing Turek.
During the primary, Turek made the case that he could appeal to voters across the political spectrum. He pointed to flipping a state house seat in a district that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024 as evidence of his electability.
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That strategy continued into the general election, where he made a point of emphasizing his track record of working with Republicans in the state Legislature. He also made overtures to the state’s rural communities, including by focusing on the strain high gas prices have put on the farming industry.
“When I joined the Iowa Legislature … I built strange bedfellows. I built relationships across the aisle,” Turek said during an Oct. 7 debate. “I believe more than even Republican versus Democrat, what Iowans want is they want someone that is going to go up and work hard to provide solutions to people’s problems through bipartisan policy.”
State Rep. Elinor Levin, a Democrat who endorsed Turek and served alongside him in the state house, told The Washington Sun that she believes Turek will avoid “getting hung up on culture wars or on us-versus-them politics” while in Congress.
“I think Iowa needs someone who’s going to be a voice at the table,” Levin said. “[He] understands from a personal perspective what it is like to struggle and to have to work hard to build a life for yourself.”
Hinson, who was seen as one of Republicans’ most promising recruits this cycle, attempted to distance herself from the president on some issues in the race’s final months. Hinson was critical when asked about Trump’s deal with Russia for oil, and she also broke with the president in speaking against the war in Iran. In June, Politico obtained audio of Hinson warning that the war would become a “political liability” if it did not end before the midterms.
“I don’t want this to be a forever war,” Hinson said during one of her debates against Turek. “I trust in our U.S. military, the greatest fighting force in the world, to bring this to a close as quickly as possible.”
In October, she appeared alongside the president in the Oval Office during the announcement of a massive steel plant planned for Southeast Iowa, though the deal is no sure thing.
Iowa’s elections this year were also marked by a deep focus on the state’s cancer crisis, with candidates across parties for offices up and down the ballot pitching plans to reverse Iowa’s cancer rates.
“I think more and more people are paying attention to who actually cares about the health care crisis and the cancer crisis and the water quality crisis, and who is legitimately going to address it,” Turek told The Sun in late October.
During the general election, Turek characterized Hinson as a political insider, including by accusing her husband of operating as a “shadow lobbyist.” The Sun previously reported on documents that showed Hinson’s husband was credited with arranging meetings between insurance industry lobbyists and lawmakers including Hinson.
Turek will fill the Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Joni Ernst, who served two terms in the Senate.
In 2025, Democrats flipped a state Senate seat in a Republican-leaning district in a special election, breaking Republicans’ supermajority. Turek’s victory indicates that the Republican grip on the state may have weakened even further since, leaving an opening for Democrats willing to appeal to voters on both sides of the aisle.
“We saw that once again, Iowa truly is not a red state, not a blue state,” Levin said. “Things break on very close margins pretty frequently here.”
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