Latest news with #JoshTurek
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Senator's Cruel Comments Lambasted in Powerful New Ad
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist and Iowa State Representative Josh Turek used current Iowa Senator Joni Ernst's infamous 'Well, we're all going to die' comment against her in a new ad announcing his candidacy for her Senate seat. Turek uses a wheelchair full-time after his father's exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War caused him to develop spina bifida, forcing him to get 21 surgeries before the age of 12. He received gold medals in wheelchair basketball in 2016 and 2020. 'I wouldn't have gotten that far without VA health coverage for my dad's service, free summer lunch programs when my parents were struggling, and the local AEA that made sure that I had access to a good education. When I was a kid, it was a Senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me,' Turek said. 'Now the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids—all just to give tax breaks to billionaires. And her explanation? 'Well, we are all going to die.'' The clip cuts to footage of the town hall in which Ernst made her cruel, fateful comments. 'I'm tired of Iowans being taken for granted. I wasn't supposed to be able to win a state House seat that Trump won twice, but I campaigned just like I played basketball: outworking everyone,' Turek continued. 'A whole lotta folks are gonna look at a guy like me and say, 'Man, that is a real long shot.' Well, in Iowa, we love an underdog. So if you are ready to push for change, join me.' Ernst's comments have seriously tainted her political reputation, and while she's yet to confirm or deny her 2026 reelection campaign, a slew of challengers have already arisen from both sides of the aisle (for what it's worth, Ernst has hired a campaign manager). Republican Jim Carlin and former Libertarian presidential candidate Joshua Smith have already declared, while Ernst and Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson are still deliberating. Meanwhile Turek joins a crowded Democratic primary field including state Senator Zach Wahls, state Representative J.D. Scholten, Des Moines school board chair Jackie Norris, and local radio station market director Nathan Sage. Turek's online platform is sparse but mentions support for public education, environmentalism, health care access, and disability rights. But at this point in his campaign, his principal position is his opposition to Ernst and what she stands for, particularly her support for cuts to Medicaid. Iowa will start its primaries on June 2, 2026.
NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump administration live updates: National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C., in federal anti-crime push
State Rep. Josh Turek, a former Paralympian with two gold medals, announced he is running for Senate in Iowa, joining a crowded Democratic primary for the seat held by GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. 'When I was a kid, there was a senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me,' Turek, who uses a wheelchair, says in his launch video, referencing former Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who authored the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'Now, the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids. All just to give tax breaks to billionaires. And her explanation? 'Well, we all are going to die,'' Turek adds, referencing a viral moment from an Ernst town hall earlier this year when she defended cuts to Medicaid in Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill.
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump administration live updates: National Guard expected to be deployed in D.C.
State Rep. Josh Turek, a former Paralympian with two gold medals, announced he is running for Senate in Iowa, joining a crowded Democratic primary for the seat held by GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. 'When I was a kid, there was a senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me,' Turek, who uses a wheelchair, says in his launch video, referencing former Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who authored the Americans with Disabilities Act. 'Now, the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids. All just to give tax breaks to billionaires. And her explanation? 'Well, we all are going to die,'' Turek adds, referencing a viral moment from an Ernst town hall earlier this year when she defended cuts to Medicaid in Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic state representative and Paralympian Josh Turek running for US Senate in 2026
COUNCIL BLUFFS — Democratic state representative and Paralympian Josh Turek is running for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat in 2026. Turek, 46, of Council Bluffs, is the fifth Democrat to jump into a crowded primary field of candidates seeking to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. "I love Iowa," Turek said in an interview with the Des Moines Register. "Everywhere that I go, certainly in a community like mine, I'm seeing an enormous amount of people struggling, and they're struggling just to keep food on the table or keep a roof above their head. And they've got a government that's not working for them, and certainly representatives like Joni Ernst are just not working for them." Turek was elected to the Iowa House in 2022 and is serving his second term representing parts of Council Bluffs and Carter Lake. The former Paralympian has won two gold medals in wheelchair basketball representing the United States in the Paralympic Games. Turek said he intends to model his campaign on the example set by former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, "my political hero," who led the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act through Congress. "He was a genuine populist that was going out there and doing the work, fighting for social and economic justice, fighting for the most vulnerable, fighting for the average person, fighting for the middle class, fighting for working class families," Turek said of Harkin. "I intend to be the exact same way." 'Kitchen table issues' will be core to Josh Turek's campaign Turek said the issues driving his campaign will be "kitchen table issues." "The economy right now is just not working for young people," he said. "It's not working for small family farms, for small business. It's not working for the middle class and working families, for that matter. And so the issues that I'm going to focus on is driving down costs, and that can be from groceries to electric bills, to certainly housing, we've got a housing crisis. Absolutely (it) is going to be on raising the minimum wage and a livable wage." Turek also criticized Ernst for her vote for President Donald Trump's tax cut bill, which cuts taxes on tips and on overtime wages while also cutting spending on Medicaid and food assistance programs. "We need affordable, accessible health care," he said. "Folks like Joni Ernst right now with what they're doing with the big, beautiful bill, we're looking at losing, not only people losing their health care benefits, but we're going to lose rural hospitals." The law extends and deepens tax cuts signed by Trump in 2017 while cutting federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion over 10 years. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will add $3.4 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade and says 10 million people are expected to become uninsured by 2034 as a result. Ernst has said she wants to preserve Medicaid for "people that truly do need the assistance." "I care about those that are most vulnerable in our population," she said June 6. "And what I'd like to say, too, I have had family members on Medicaid. So when people think, oh, I get to sit in a big fancy office in Washington, D.C., I want Iowans to remember where I came from." Turek said he has a unique story, acknowledging that he is "not your standard Senate candidate." Turek, who uses a wheelchair, was born with spina bifida and had 21 surgeries before he was 12 years old. He now works for a nonprofit that provides adaptive sports equipment and free summer camps for kids with disabilities. His wife, Jarolin, works in health care. "I'm someone that really understands, at a deeply personal level, these social safety nets that have allowed me to get to where I am and the success I've had," he said. Josh Turek touts his ability to win in areas that Donald Trump won Turek eked out a victory in his first Iowa House race by a six-vote margin in "a really tough year for Democrats." It was a race where he dragged himself up stairs, pulling his wheelchair behind him, in order to knock on doors to talk to potential voters. In his reelection bid in 2024, Turek won by about 5 percentage points, despite being heavily targeted by Republicans, even as Trump carried the district. Those experiences show "the grit, the hard work, the determination" he'll bring to his current race, he said. "I went out and I crawled stairs and I knocked doors dragging my wheelchair up there to have a conversation with every single person in the community," he said. "That didn't matter, Democrats, independents, Republicans. Talked to them all, and talked about the issues they cared about. And I won my first election by just six votes." Turek pointed to bills he has worked on in the Iowa Legislature to provide money to study the accessibility of state parks, make it easier for Medicaid recipients to get their wheelchairs repaired, ban the cancer-linked chemical DEHP in urinary catheters and raise income and asset limits for people with disabilities who are on Medicaid. "I think politically, I am the archetype of what can win out here," he said. "I am a common sense, moderate Democrat that is willing to work across the aisle in a bipartisan way. And people can see that from what I've been able to do at the state level." Josh Turek plans to stand out in a crowded primary field 'by outworking them' Turek joins a crowded Democratic primary field that includes state Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville, state Rep. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City, former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Director Nathan Sage of Indianola and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris of Des Moines. Ernst has not formally announced she will seek a third term in 2026, but she has hired a campaign manager and scheduled her annual Roast and Ride fundraiser for October. Two Republicans have said they intend to challenge Ernst for the GOP nomination: former state Sen. Jim Carlin and Joshua Smith. Turek said the way he'll set himself apart from his competitors "is by outworking them." "I'm going to go out there and I'm going to go into every single nook and cranny and corner in these rural communities that Democrats have ignored in a lot of their races and talk about exactly why I am the best candidate, the most electable, and I'm going to talk about the kitchen table issues," he said. Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@ or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek running for US Senate against Joni Ernst
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats Are Pouring Into This Red-State Senate Race
A surprisingly robust primary field has emerged to challenge GOP Sen. Joni Ernst in bright-red Iowa, with state Rep. Josh Turek announcing a run on Tuesday to become the fifth major Democratic candidate in the race. Turek, who represents Council Bluffs in far western Iowa in the state House, is a former Paralympian who won two gold medals in wheelchair basketball as part of Team USA. He announced his run with a two-minute video in which he casts himself as an underdog who's managed to win in Trump territory. Turek joins four already-announced candidates: State Sen. Zach Wahls; Jackie Norris, the chair of the Des Moines School Board and a former chief of staff to then-first lady Michelle Obama; former professional baseball player and State Sen. J.D. Scholten and Nathan Sage, an Iraq War veteran who chairs the Chamber of Commerce in the tiny town of Knoxville. The size of the field reflects Democrats' optimism that the backlash to President Donald Trump's second term could be large enough to give them a fighting chance in a state he won by 13 percentage points in 2024. It also highlights the party's ongoing uncertainty about the best pathways to compete in red territory. The five candidates are taking distinct approaches: Norris is emphasizing her background as a teacher and education issues; Sage and Scholten are both running as populists; Wahls, age 34, is promising to be part of a 'new generation' of Democrats; and Turek is emphasizing his past electoral successes. There are clear through lines: All five candidates are attacking Ernst for her support of the GOP budget that combined slashes to Medicaid with tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy. Multiple candidates mentioned Ernst's 'we are all going to die' response at a town hall in their launch videos. Ernst has hired a campaign manager, but some Republicans in Washington, D.C., still believe she could choose not to run for a third term after briefly clashing with Trump over the nomination of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It's not clear who the GOP could run if Ernst decides to bow out. Republicans have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate. While the political environment in the midterms is expected to favor Democrats, their pickup opportunities beyond North Carolina and Maine are unclear. Iowa is one of several states in the next tier of opportunities, along with similarly red Texas and Ohio.
