Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary in Iowa is shaping up as an early test of whether running against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) resonates with the party’s base in a state President Donald Trump has carried three times.While national Democrats have quietly signaled a preference for state Rep. Josh Turek, state Sen. Zach Wahls has built much of his campaign around arguing Democratic leadership is out of touch with voters.Wahls has repeatedly tied Turek to Schumer and criticized the outside groups backing his campaign, framing himself as an independent-minded Democrat who could better connect with swing voters in a state Democrats have struggled to win in recent years.
“It is going to be a hell of a lot easier to win back the voters whose trust this party has lost with a candidate who can look them in the eye and tell them with a straight face: I don’t owe Chuck Schumer or anybody else in Washington, D.C., a damn thing,” Wahls told supporters at a campaign stop in Mason City last month.
Neither Schumer nor the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has formally endorsed in the race, but Democratic-aligned groups have poured millions into boosting Turek, fueling speculation among Iowa Democrats that national party leaders see him as the stronger general election candidate.
