Iowa Democrats – Two Democrats, Zach Wahls and Josh Turek, will debate Thursday in Iowa’s June 2 U.S. Senate primary, a race shaped by heavy outside spending and high-profile endorsements. With Republican Sen. Joni Ernst opting out, the open seat has become a major target, whi
DES MOINES, Iowa — Two Democratic candidates for Iowa’s open U.S.. Senate seat take the stage Thursday with a single question hovering over every answer: who is best positioned to flip a seat held by Republicans.. The contest has already been marked by outside spending and big-name backing. and both campaigns are racing toward the June 2 primary where early voting began Wednesday.
State lawmakers Zach Wahls and Josh Turek are competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge whoever wins the Republican side in a general election this fall.. The seat is open because Iowa Republican Sen.. Joni Ernst opted out of a reelection bid.. Ernst replaced retiring Democratic Sen.. Tom Harkin in 2014, making this the first open-seat U.S.. Senate race Iowa has seen since that transition.
Republican Senate leaders have backed Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman representing northeast Iowa, committing $29 million to help keep their thin majority.. Democrats. however. see a rare opening in a state where President Donald Trump won by double digits in the last presidential election and where the federal delegation remains all-Republican.. Still, before any general-election fight, the party needs to decide which Democrat will lead the ticket.
The debate comes as heavy money from outside groups and major endorsements have become a central feature of the nomination fight.. While Wahls and Turek have raised and spent similar amounts. VoteVets has spent about $7 million to support Turek in the final stretch—more than the two candidates have spent combined.. Wahls has seized on the influx of cash. arguing insiders in Washington are trying to exert outsized influence. and the criticism is expected to surface again Thursday after it came up at an Iowa Press debate last week.
Wahls, who is endorsed by U.S.. Sen.. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, has painted the leadership question as part of the stakes of the nomination.. During last week’s debate. Wahls said: “The leadership of Chuck Schumer has failed the Democratic Party. it has failed the state and it has failed this country. ” adding. “Dark money has an agenda. and that agenda is to protect the broken status quo and the failed leadership of Sen.. Schumer.”
Wahls has also said he would not vote for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to be the caucus leader. Schumer, in turn, has tried to keep the focus on Republicans.
Turek is trying to keep the conversation anchored on his own pathway to the job. and his campaign has leaned into a different kind of personal profile.. Born with spina bifida after his father’s exposure to chemicals while serving in the Vietnam War. Turek has been framed by his supporters as uniquely positioned to advocate for veterans’ services. especially health care and military families.
When pressed about Wahls’ criticism. Turek responded that he is not a “DC insider.” “I don’t know these folks. ” he said.. He also laid out criteria for leader candidates without fully committing on Schumer.. “I will go up and ask whoever is deciding to run for leadership …. ‘What are you going to do for Iowa?. What are you going to do for Iowans?. What are you going to do for the middle class?’” Turek said.
The contrast between the two campaigns has sharpened further in endorsements.. In the last week. Turek unveiled a rare endorsement from Harkin. who represented Iowa in Washington for three decades. as well as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.. Turek also has collected endorsements from sitting U.S.. senators, including Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan and Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto.
In contrast, Wahls has leaned on endorsements closer to the party’s progressive wing and on local political support.. He often highlights the backing he has seen from unions and local elected officials. and Warren joined him in Iowa for campaign events over the weekend.. Warren told voters the Senate needs Democrats who are willing to “get in there and stand up and fight.”
The issues have overlapped more than the rhetoric so far.. In the first debate last week. both candidates said they would not support the Republican president’s tariffs or the war in Iran.. Both also said they support raising the minimum wage and restoring health care access with a public insurance option. and both criticized corruption in Washington while proposing higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.
But the campaigns started to split on details that could become central Thursday.. Wahls is expected to reference a law Turek supported in the Iowa legislature that makes it a state crime to be in the U.S.. illegally.. Turek defended his vote, saying it was Biden-era legislation and stressing the importance of a secure U.S.-Mexico border.. Turek also said he supports an easier path to citizenship and reforms to immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
Turek’s messaging also leans on his working-class background, contrasting his work for a nonprofit with Wahls’ work for a super PAC focused on electing young Democrats.
There’s a clear rhythm to the contrasts that have already emerged: outside money is feeding Turek’s late surge while Wahls frames the same kind of influence as a threat to Democratic leadership. and that clash is set to collide with immigration and border arguments that both candidates already began to separate on in the prior debate.
Thursday’s debate lands with the June 2 primary only days away. as Democrats try to choose a nominee they believe can take the fight to Republicans in a state that has recently delivered a significant presidential win for Donald Trump and still has an all-Republican federal lineup.. By the time the candidates step into the spotlight. the question won’t just be which Democrat can win a nomination—but which one can carry a heavy. externally funded contest into the fall.
Iowa U.S. Senate primary Democrats Zach Wahls Josh Turek Joni Ernst Ashley Hinson VoteVets Chuck Schumer Elizabeth Warren immigration U.S.-Mexico border Harkin Pete Buttigieg