Democrat Josh Turek flips Iowa Senate seat after 18 years of GOP control

Democrat Josh Turek defeated Republican Ashley Hinson to win Iowa's open Senate seat, NBC News projects, marking a critical victory for Democrats in their effort to regain Senate control. Turek, a state representative and two-time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, won with 50.8% of the vote compared to Hinson's 46.1%. This is Iowa's first Democratic Senate victory since 2008, when Tom Harkin won his fifth consecutive term before leaving office in January 2015. Since then, the state has been represented by Republicans Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley.

The race centered on economic concerns and Trump's policy agenda. Turek criticized Hinson's repeated votes supporting Trump's trade war, which he argued harmed Iowa's agricultural sector and consumers through rising fuel and fertilizer costs. He also linked the conflict with Iran to price increases for gasoline, diesel, and transported goods. Hinson, a three-term U.S. Representative and longtime Trump ally, attempted to balance support for the president's policies with appeals to moderate voters. After voting against efforts to end the Iran conflict seven times, she announced in September that she believed the hostilities should cease—a shift Turek characterized as inconsistency. Economic issues, Medicaid cuts in Trump's budget package, and the Iran war dominated campaign discussions, though debates maintained a relatively civil tone. Both candidates also advocated for congressional term limits, a notable point in a state represented by 93-year-old Republican Chuck Grassley.

Turek's victory comes at a crucial moment for Democrats, who needed a net gain of at least four Senate seats to wrest control from Republicans. Iowa had been considered competitive after Trump's approval ratings declined and voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living mounted, despite Trump winning the state by 13 percentage points in 2024. Turek, who has spina bifida—a condition he attributes to his father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam—won his disputed primary in June against state Senator Zach Wahls with 63% of the vote. He became Iowa's first permanently disabled state legislator when elected to the state House in 2022. Hinson had a smoother primary path after receiving endorsements from Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Tim Scott, then chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, winning with 75% of the vote.