State Rep. Josh Turek won Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, overcoming state Sen. Zach Wahls in a closely watched contest that became an early test of whether anti-establishment Democratic messaging and attacks on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could gain traction with primary voters in a state President Donald Trump has carried three times.The Associated Press called the race for Turek at 9:42 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. With 38% of the ballots counted, Turek led with 63.1% of the vote to Wahls’s 36.9%.Turek entered Election Day with the backing of prominent Iowa Democrats, millions in outside spending from Democratic-aligned groups, and a late polling surge that transformed the race from a competitive primary into one where he appeared to hold a clear advantage. RealClearPolitics polling averages showed Turek leading by roughly 20 points in the race’s final public surveys after Wahls had led earlier in the year.
The race drew national attention as one of the first Democratic Senate primaries this cycle to expose growing tensions inside the party over leadership, electability, and how aggressively candidates should distance themselves from Washington Democrats.
While national Democrats quietly signaled a preference for Turek, Wahls centered much of his campaign around arguing Democratic leadership had become disconnected from voters. Wahls repeatedly tied Turek to Schumer and outside political groups, portraying himself as an independent-minded populist better positioned to reconnect with swing voters in Iowa.
