Josh Turek

Turek’s hometown is Council Bluffs, Iowa. He graduated from Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States (1861–1865). Born to a frontier farming family in Kentucky, he had less than a year of formal schooling, taught himself law, and served in the Illinois legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives before winning the presidency as the Republican candidate in 1860. During the Civil War he preserved the Union, issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and pushed the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery through Congress. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865, and died the next day.Open the full entry High School in Council Bluffs in 1997 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2002.⁠[1]

At Southwest Minnesota State he became the all-time leading scorer for the school’s wheelchair basketball team.⁠[2]

Turek played for the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team at four Paralympic Games—2004, 2012, 2016 and 2020 (held in 2021)—finishing seventh in Athens in 2004, winning bronze in London in 2012, and winning gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and in Tokyo.⁠[1][3]

The 2016 gold was the first Paralympic gold medal for the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team in 28 years. He also won silver with the team at the 2014 world championships and three Pan American Games gold medals.⁠[3]

House Resolution 101 of the 89th Iowa General Assembly honored his Paralympic achievements and recorded that he had retired from the national team to pursue goals off the court, including a master’s degree.⁠[3]

After winning gold in Tokyo, Turek ran for the Iowa Legislature in his hometown of Council Bluffs, in a district Donald Trump had carried twice. He won narrowly the first time and was later re-elected by a wider margin.⁠[4]

He has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since January 9, 2023, representing District 20 in the 90th and 91st General Assemblies.⁠[5]

In the Iowa House he serves on the Health and Human Services Committee and its appropriations subcommittee and is a member of the state Mental Health and Disability Services Commission; from January to November 2025 he was ranking member of the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee.⁠[5]

His campaign website says he has worked on disability access and mobility devices in the legislature.⁠[4]

After Republican U.S. Senator Joni Ernst announced she would not seek re-election, her seat became open. On June 2, 2026, Turek defeated state Senator Zach Wahls in the Democratic primary, a race called by the Associated Press; with 99% of the vote counted, unofficial results gave Turek 62.6% to Wahls’s 37.4%.⁠[6][7]

During the primary he was backed by Democrats including former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. On primary night he said, “Iowa sure does love an underdog, and we have done it tonight.”⁠[7][6]

The same day, U.S. Representative Ashley HinsonAshley HinsonAshley Hinson is an American Republican politician and former television news reporter who served in the Iowa House of Representatives and has been a U.S. Representative from Iowa since 2021. She was the Republican nominee in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Iowa, which she lost to Democrat Josh Turek.Open the full entry won the Republican nomination, becoming Turek’s general-election opponent.⁠[7][8]

On November 3, 2026, the Associated Press called the race for Turek, who was elected U.S. Senator from Iowa, defeating Republican Ashley Hinson and succeeding the retiring Joni Ernst.⁠[9]

Turek has described himself as a “commonsense prairie populist.”⁠[8]

In a pre-primary interview with KMA he said his first Senate bill would be a “Dignity in Work” bill that would raise the minimum wage, end 14(c) certificates allowing sub-minimum wages for people with disabilities, and restore collective bargaining rights. He said, “We all recognize that $7.25 an hour is not a livable wage.”⁠[2]

In the same interview he said he would work to restore SNAP and Medicare benefits that had been cut and to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act.⁠[2]

Turek for Iowa: Official website: https://turek4iowa.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

X: Public account: https://x.com/Turek4Iowa (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JoshTurek4Iowa (opens in a new window).⁠[4]