Democrat Josh Turek wins Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat, AP projects
Iowa Rep. Josh Turek celebrated victory at an Election Night party at the at the Iowa Historical Building and Museum Nov. 3, 2026 after preliminary results showed he won Iowa’s U.S. Senate race. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
November 3, 2026
Josh Turek defeated Republican Ashley Hinson in the U.S. Senate race Tuesday, the Associated Press has projected, becoming the first Iowa Democrat to hold the seat since former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin was in office.
Unofficial results show Turek with nearly 50% of the vote and Hinson with 47% with 97% of Iowa’s precincts reporting.
Turek will join longtime U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, in the Senate, filling the seat left by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who chose not to seek a third term in office. It will be the first time more than a decade that Iowa will have a Democrat in seat.
As he gave his victory speech, Turek said his campaign and Iowans’ support “have proven that the impossible was possible.”
“I’ll say it again, Iowa: You sure do love an underdog,” Turek told the crowd.
Before serving in the Iowa House representing Council Bluffs, Turek was a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, winning in 2016 and 2020 as a member of the U.S. wheelchair basketball team. Turek, who was born with spina bifida, became the first permanently disabled member of the Iowa Legislature as he won election in 2022 by a margin of 6 votes after a recount. Turek said his story was “truly the American dream.”
“Only in America could someone born into a working-class family in Council Bluffs, Iowa, who went through the economic and healthcare struggle that I went through, ultimately be able to represent my country in four Paralympic Games, win two gold medals, represent my community in the Iowa Legislature — and as of tonight, be elected to represent a state I was born and raised in in the United States Senate,” Turek said.
Turek also said it was “poetic” that he is filling the seat that was occupied by former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin — the lead author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. As Harkin joined him on stage as he gave his victory speech, Turek said Harkin showed how great of an impact politicians can have.
“I believe to my core that the United States Senate is the single greatest vehicle to make societal change, and I believe in that ability for a good senator to change lives,” Turek said. “I’ve seen it, because one senator changed mine. When I was 11 years old, a disabled boy living in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the great Tom Harkin changed my life and gave me and so many other disabled Americans an on ramp to society. Had it not been for this man, who represents the epitome of what is good, and what is good in public service, my life would have looked very, very different. One senator’s ability to work across the aisle and pass good public policy changed my life.”
Hinson said in a concession speech though she and Turek “to put it mildly, disagree on a lot,” that she hoped they could work together moving forward.
“Tonight, I hope that we can agree on this, that the campaign is behind us and the work of serving the people of Iowa remains ahead,” Hinson said. “”It is time to put politics aside, dial down the rhetoric, and start solving problems for Iowa’s families, and Iowa’s farmers.”
Though early political forecasts showed Hinson, a U.S. representative, having a strong lead in Iowa, the race gained more attention — and investment — as the election drew near. President Donald Trump rallied for Hinson and other GOP candidates in Iowa twice ahead of Election Day. According to an analysis by KCCI, the race was drawing roughly $4.6 million in political spending per day near the end of the election cycle.
Attacks against Hinson claimed that the Republican had enriched herself during her time in Washington, D.C. representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, and criticized her public commitment and votes on banning members of Congress from stock trading while retaining private stock in an insurance company founded and sold by her husband. The candidate said she and her husband sold their publicly traded stocks after she first took office in 2021.
Much of opposition against Turek, a state representative, focused on him missing votes during his time in the Iowa Legislature. An analysis of voting records, Turek missed 58% of Iowa House votes this year, but his campaign said he took 81% of votes since first taking office in 2023. While Turek has presented himself as a moderate, many ads also claimed he aligned closely with Democrats on issues relating to transgender youth and athletes, as well as immigration — claims Turek denied in his own ads.
Hinson has represented northeast Iowa in the U.S. House since her first victory in 2020. Before her time in federal office, she served as a state representative from 2017 to 2021, and was previously a news anchor for KCRG-TV. She has two sons and has presented herself as a “minivan-driving mom” on the campaign trail.
Hinson told her supporters her campaign was for all of the U.S. citizens who need help from their government.
“Our veterans need a lot of help too, our students, our young people need a lot of help and the millions across this country who are expecting more results out of Washington, D.C., and that’s what this campaign was all about, that’s who this campaign was really for, and while tonight’s outcome wasn’t the one we wanted, I’m so deeply proud of our campaign’s fight and I’m just eternally grateful to everyone who helped make that happen,” Hinson said.
Thomas Laehn, a Libertarian currently serving as Greene County Attorney, was also on the ballot for the U.S. Senate seat. Laehn received just over 3% of votes in the race, according to preliminary results.
Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
