Iowa's open Senate seat turns competitive as Hinson and Turek pitch populism and bipartisanship

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek face off on November 3 for an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa in the midterm elections.

With days to go until the midterms, President Donald Trump is travelling the country on a red-state blitz to stave off a potential blue wave, including in Iowa, where the open Senate seat is up for grabs.

Democrats are pinning their hopes on state Rep. Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, to flip the seat for the first time since 2008; he is running as a centrist on what he calls a 'common-sense prairie populist' platform against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson.

Iowa Republicans hold the governorship, majorities in the statehouse and the state's entire congressional delegation, but amid growing economic discontent over rising gas and fertilizer costs in the agriculture-heavy state, Democrats see a competitive opportunity to flip control of Congress.

A recent CNN poll found that majorities of likely Iowa voters say Trump's policies have increased their cost of living, that gas prices have caused them hardship and that tariffs are bad for the state.

Trump, who is backing Hinson, handily won the state in the last three presidential elections, but Hinson is walking a political tightrope: she praised Trump at his Sioux City rally last week for 'preserving our country for generations to come', yet she has criticised the president's recent deal with Russia that he said would lower diesel fuel costs, and in September she reversed her position on Iran, calling for an end to the war.

Asked by ABC News about the Pentagon's timeline for a new offensive after the midterms, Hinson deferred to the commander-in-chief: 'I trust the president and the U.S. military to get this done on the time frame that works right to make sure we can actually achieve the result of making sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon,' she told ABC News' Jon Karl.

On Ukraine, Hinson disagreed with the president's waiving of sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, 'I don't think we should be making any deals with Russia', and, reacting to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff calling Putin a 'humanitarian', she said: 'He's a murderer. I don't think we should be making deals with murderers and dictators, and that's why I stood up for Ukraine.'

Former President Barack Obama, who twice carried Iowa, endorsed Turek in July and reminded voters, 'I know a little something about winning Iowa.' Turek told ABC News: 'We're not a red state. We're a common-sense state that's masqueraded more red than what we actually are.'

Turek has leaned into his personal story: he was born with spina bifida due to his father's exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and has said, 'I am an example of the generational consequences of these forever wars.'

On Thursday Turek visited a local manufacturer in Shell Rock, a town of some 1,260 people in Butler County, which Trump carried by 45 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, and said too many Democrats have overlooked small communities like it.

Turek has also touted his bipartisan credentials in ads, promising to work across the aisle, including with Trump, on immigration: 'He's done a better job on the border than Biden,' he said, adding that he agrees there should be no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, and that private equity should be driven out of housing.

Turek, who hails from the deep-red city of Council Bluffs, recently launched a coalition of Republicans backing him, including members of his own family; he said his father is a two-time Obama voter and three-time Trump voter and his sister is a registered Republican.

Democrats have slammed the GOP for passing Trump's signature tax legislation, the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', arguing that its Medicaid funding cut of $1 trillion over the next 10 years — in part through new work and eligibility requirements — has threatened rural hospitals and healthcare access, while Republicans said their goal is reducing 'waste, fraud and abuse' in these programs.

Hinson, pitching herself as a 'minivan-driving mom', told ABC News she knows Iowans are economically struggling and defended the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' for delivering tax relief to families, pledging more action to lower healthcare premiums and gas prices.

At 43, Hinson could become the youngest elected Republican woman in the U.S. Senate, and she is pitching herself as a bipartisan lawmaker despite her initial campaign promise to be Trump's 'strongest ally', saying: 'I found common ground with President Biden. I'm going to operate that same way, no matter who's in the White House.'

In Shell Rock, Turek said Iowans are telling him they are tired of the 'political theater' and 'tribalism', quoting voters: 'I'm struggling to keep food on the table, a roof above my head, pay my electric bill, and keep gas in my tank — can you please go up there and solve problems through policy in a bipartisan way?'