Candidate
Democrat
Josh Turek
Iowa state representative · Paralympic gold medalist
Council Bluffs state representative and Paralympic champion focused on affordable health care, workers, family farms and congressional ethics.
Iowa Senate · 2026 · Candidate comparison
Josh Turek vs. Ashley Hinson
A state legislator and a sitting member of Congress clash over health care, family costs, rural communities, agricultural power, and Trump's agenda.
At a glance
The candidates in this race.
VS
Candidate
Republican
Ashley Hinson
U.S. representative · Iowa's 2nd District · since 2021
A former journalist and Iowa House member who entered Congress in 2021 and won the Republican nomination for Iowa's open Senate seat.
Where they stand
Where they differ.
Turek
Raise wages, curb food price gouging, strengthen unions, and limit private-equity ownership of homes and farmland.
01
What should an affordability agenda do?
Hinson
Cut taxes and spending, incentivize first-time homeownership, and increase family and career supports.
Turek
Expand ACA coverage, protect rural hospitals, create a public option, and restore federal abortion-rights protections.
02
How should health care and reproductive freedom work?
Hinson
Lower drug costs through transparency and expand rural health providers and hospitals.
Turek
Curb agribusiness consolidation, protect right to repair, use country-of-origin labels, and end tariffs he says hurt farmers.
03
Who should set the rules for agriculture?
Hinson
Pass a Farm Bill, expand export markets, reduce regulations, and back biofuels and year-round E15.
Turek
His record includes a 2024 vote for Iowa's immigration-enforcement law, while his federal platform emphasizes economic and health-care policy.
04
How should Washington handle immigration and public safety?
Hinson
Enforce immigration law, deport undocumented people convicted of serious crimes, and prioritize anti-fentanyl law-enforcement partnerships.
Policy priorities.
Josh Turek
DemocratRaise wages with inflation
Supports raising the federal minimum wage, tying regular increases to inflation and passing the PRO Act to protect collective bargaining.
Restrict Wall Street home purchases
Would bar private equity firms from purchasing single-family homes and farmland and simplify affordable-housing permits.
Expand coverage with a public option
Supports a public insurance option, restoring Medicaid funding, protecting ACA coverage and expanding rural and mental health services.
Ban congressional trading and corporate PACs
Supports stock-trading bans for lawmakers and spouses, banning corporate PAC money and stronger campaign-finance disclosure.
Protect farmers and repair rights
Supports a federal right-to-repair law, mandatory country-of-origin labeling and stronger action against agribusiness monopolies.
Restore reproductive health protections
Would restore federal Roe v. Wade protections and protect access to contraception and IVF.
Ashley Hinson
RepublicanFamily costs & housing
Calls for lower taxes and spending, first-home savings, limits on institutional homebuyers, child-care support, and career education.
Rural health care
Supports pharmacy-benefit-manager transparency, lower drug costs, over-the-counter birth control, and expanding rural providers and hospitals.
Agriculture & energy
Calls for a Farm Bill, expanded export markets, fewer farm regulations, year-round E15, biofuels, and domestic energy.
Border security & fentanyl
Supports immigration enforcement, deportation of undocumented people convicted of serious crimes, and law-enforcement partnerships against fentanyl trafficking.
The backgrounds
Public careers.
Josh Turek
2016 and 2021
Won two Paralympic gold medals
Won wheelchair basketball gold with Team USA at Rio 2016 and the Tokyo Games held in 2021.
Iowa state representative
Represents Council Bluffs in the Iowa House after first winning election in 2022.
Professional wheelchair basketball player
Played professional wheelchair basketball and represented the United States at four Paralympic Games.
Ryan Martin Foundation volunteer director
Worked as volunteer director for a foundation offering free sports opportunities to children with disabilities.
Mobility equipment worker
Worked with patients and doctors to provide wheelchairs, mobility devices and complex rehabilitation technology.
Ashley Hinson
2017–2020
Iowa House
Served in the Iowa House of Representatives.
2021
U.S. House
Began representing Iowa in the U.S. House.
2025
Senate campaign launch
Entered the Senate race after Joni Ernst said she would not run again.
2026
Senate nominee
Won Iowa's Republican Senate primary.
The record.
Josh Turek
DemocratPolicy choice
Backed Iowa's immigration-enforcement law
Turek voted for Senate File 2340, a 2024 law creating a state crime tied to certain prior immigration-removal orders and expanding state enforcement authority.
Why it matters: The law was blocked from enforcement during litigation. The vote became an issue in Turek's primary, but it is a policy choice—not an allegation of misconduct.
Campaign tactic
Outside Democratic spending became a primary issue
The Associated Press reported that a Democratic political operation spent millions supporting Turek and that organizations affiliated with Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand contributed to his campaign committee.
Why it matters: Primary opponent Zach Wahls criticized the spending as insider influence; it was a campaign-finance dispute, not an adjudicated wrongdoing finding.
Ashley Hinson
RepublicanPolicy choice
Voted for the 2025 tax-and-spending law
Hinson voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A KCRG fact check cited CBO's estimate that the law's Medicaid, ACA-marketplace, and work-requirement changes would increase the number of uninsured people nationally by about 10 million by 2034.
Why it matters: A recorded vote with projected coverage consequences, not a personal-misconduct allegation.
Policy choice
Voted against limiting Iran hostilities
The official House roll call records Hinson voting 'nay' on a resolution directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran.
Why it matters: A high-profile national-security vote that left the president's military authority in place from Hinson's perspective.
Campaign tactic
Framed her Senate run around a Trump alliance
When announcing her Senate bid, Hinson said she was running to be President Trump's 'top ally' in the Senate and to advance his America First agenda.
Why it matters: Direct campaign positioning, not a finding of wrongdoing.
Sources.
- 01Josh Turek campaign - platform
- 02Josh Turek official campaign
- 03Josh Turek campaign - platform
- 04International Paralympic Committee - Joshua Turek
- 05Josh Turek campaign - biography
- 06Iowa Capital Dispatch - Turek's SF 2340 vote
- 07Associated Press - Iowa Senate primary
- 08Ashley Hinson campaign - issues
- 09U.S. House History - Ashley Hinson biography
- 10Associated Press - Hinson enters Senate race
- 11KCRG-TV9 - Hinson vote and health-coverage claims
- 12U.S. House Clerk - Iran war powers roll call
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