Josh Turek on Senate Race & Turning Iowa Blue

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Josh Turek on Senate Race & Turning Iowa Blue

Date: June 8, 2026
Host: MeidasTouch Network (Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas)
Guest: Josh Turek, Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa

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Main Theme

This episode spotlights the shifting political landscape in Iowa, highlighting Democratic gains and the upcoming Senate race. The Meiselas brothers interview Josh Turek, a state representative and newly minted Democratic Senate candidate, discussing his background, Iowa's economic and agricultural crises, failures of MAGA Republican leadership, and the opportunities for Democrats to "turn Iowa blue."

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Iowa's Rapid Political Realignment

• Polling and Recent Flips (01:13–05:45):

  • Donald Trump’s approval in Iowa is “net negative 20”.
  • Democrats have flipped multiple deep-red districts recently, including Caitlin Dre (Senate District 1), Renee Hardman (Senate District 16 with a 71.5% win), and Mike Zimmer (Trump +21 seat).
  • MAGA Republicans are struggling; Trump-endorsed candidates often lose primaries.
  • Republican incumbents are dodging town halls—most notably Rep. Miller-Meeks (“I’ll do one when hell freezes over” – Miller-Meeks, 03:21).

• Republican Disconnect with Iowans:

  • Donald Trump’s campaign visits are perceived as increasingly out-of-touch. Notably, a bizarre Iowa rally where Trump discussed sending an “armada to Iran” and commented awkwardly to farmers about their “nice, safe, beautiful life” and not getting their ears pierced (04:32–05:45).

2. Interview with Josh Turek: The Face of Iowa’s Blue Wave

Background and Personal Story

• Turek’s Introduction (07:32–09:41):
  • Grew up in Council Bluffs, working-class family, lived with a disability (spina bifida from father’s Agent Orange exposure).
  • One of the first permanently disabled members of the Iowa legislature. Capitol wasn’t accessible to people with disabilities until his run.
  • Four-time Paralympian, two-time wheelchair basketball gold medalist.
  • Directed a nonprofit for disabled children and entered politics due to Medicaid privatization failures.

Quote:

"The Iowa capitol wasn't even accessible when I first ran... I thought it's got to be because of this complete lack of representation why we're seeing all these barriers. So I decided to run, and I went out there and drug my wheelchair upstairs every single day, rain or shine, hot or cold to win."
—Josh Turek (09:41)

Record & Recent Primary Win

• Election Victory (07:32–09:04):
  • Won 96 of 99 counties in the Senate primary (26-point margin).
  • Only Democrat to win a competitive race in western Iowa in his first legislative bid—with a 6-vote margin.
  • Outperformed Democratic baseline by 50%.

Policy Focus & Critique of Republican Leadership

• Agricultural and Economic Crisis (07:32–15:37):
  • Iowa leads the nation in farm foreclosures, is “dead last” in economic growth, and “48th for personal income growth.”
  • 2 in 5 Iowans on Medicaid. Over 250 healthcare clinics closed over 15 years.
  • Central critique: incumbent Ashley Hinson and Trump Republicans have betrayed rural Iowans by backing damaging tariffs, supporting wealthy special interests, ignoring real farm crises, and “not passing a damn farm bill.”

Quote:

"We're a state that's dead last for economic growth. 48th for personal income growth. Two in five Iowans are on Medicaid. Ashley Hinson voted for the big beautiful bill—110,000 Iowans lose their health care... Iowans are fed up. They've had enough and they're ready for change. They're ready for a commonsense prairie populist like myself."
—Josh Turek (08:00–09:04)

• Firsthand Reports vs. D.C. Spin (12:20–15:29):
  • Responding to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claiming it’s a “golden age” for farmers:
    • “Every place we're going, we're hearing farmers that are terrified. It is what I'm calling a 'Farmageddon.'”
    • “Farm suicide rates are skyrocketing... We've lost 100,000 beef producers... We haven't passed a damn farm bill.”
    • Laments vertical integration, lack of right to repair, and closing of rural small businesses and schools ("Trump signs are coming down").

Quote:

“It is a scary place to be a farmer in Iowa right now. It is what I’m calling a Farmageddon.”
—Josh Turek (13:35–14:00)

The Stakes Ahead

• 2026 as a Generational Opportunity (15:37–16:21):
  • Open races for Governor, Senate, and two congressional seats—“first time since 1968.”
  • Latest polling has Turek tied with or narrowly leading Rep. Hinson.
  • Urges national support: “If we win Iowa, we not only generationally change this state, we will change the country.”

Quote:

"We can win this race. And if we can win here in Iowa, we not only generationally change the state of Iowa, we will change this country."
—Josh Turek (15:46–16:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rep. Miller-Meeks on town halls:

  “I’ll do one when hell freezes over… You can yell at me at the county fair.”
  —Rep. Miller-Meeks (03:21)

• On Republican disconnect:

  “You look at the Democratic surge in Iowa right now… Trump is just destroying the Republican Party there.”
  —Ben Meiselas (01:13)

• Turek on his motivation:

  "I thought it was fundamentally wrong… found out that Iowa hadn't had a disabled member of the legislature. One in five Iowans are disabled. Capitol wasn't even accessible."
  —Josh Turek (09:41)

• Summary of the farm crisis:

  “You go in these rural communities, I promise you Trump signs, Trump flags, they are coming down. These are communities that have been hollowed out. They have lost their pharmacies, they've lost their grocery stores, they are losing their health care clinics because of votes like the big beautiful bill. And now they're losing their schools because here in Iowa we're giving private schools public money.”
  —Josh Turek (14:45–15:29)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:13 – Iowa polling, Democratic flips, Republican dysfunction
• 03:11 – Miller-Meeks on avoiding town halls
• 03:40 – Grassley under fire in constituent town halls
• 04:32 – Trump’s awkward Iowa rally
• 05:45 – Rising Democratic margins, Turek’s primary win, and independent polling
• 07:32 – Josh Turek interview begins; Turek discusses candidacy and growing up in Iowa
• 09:41 – Turek details personal background, disability, and first election
• 12:20 – Discussion of national Republican claims vs. local Iowa farm crisis
• 13:35 – Turek outlines "Farmageddon": farm policy failures and rural collapse
• 15:37 – Turek issues campaign call to action, shares campaign website

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Conclusion & Call to Action

The episode comprehensively lays out Iowa's unprecedented political shift, focusing on rural economic distress, GOP failures, and the momentum behind Josh Turek's Senate campaign. Turek’s story embodies overcoming adversity and promises “commonsense prairie populism.” The MeidasTouch hosts urge listeners to support Turek and recognize Iowa as central to the 2026 midterms.

For more information:
Josh Turek’s campaign: turek4iowa.com
MeidasTouch Podcast, subscribe for regular updates and exclusive content.

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Transcript

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[C]

Donald Trump facing a nightmare scenario in Iowa. Donald Trump's polling in Iowa, his approval net negative 20 in Iowa. And when you look at the Democratic surge in Iowa right now, Donald Trump is just destroying the Republican Party there. The Democratic candidate for governor in Iowa, Rob sand, is ahead of Zach lan, who is the Republican candidate there, by the way. Donald Trump endorsed Zach Land's opponent, Randy Feenstra. Donald Trump couldn't even get his own pick for governor and a guy from Kansas, Zach Land ended up getting the nomination. That that's how much people hate Donald Trump. That Trump's hand picked MAGA puppet wasn't, wasn't even selected. Um, then you have all of the indications that Iowa is turning blue that we've been covering here on the Midas Touch network all year long and frankly for the past 18 months or so. Remember back in August of 2025, Democrat Caitlin Dre flipped Iowa's Senate District 1, a district that Trump won by 11.5 points in 2024 when the Democrat Renee Hardman won the Iowa State Senate District 16 with 71.5%, a 27 point Democrat over performance from 2024. Go way back to January 28, 2025, when Dems flipped a Trump plus 21 seat over there with Democrat Mike Zimmer in Iowa. And folks, the Iowa congressional candidates, the MAGA Republican candidates and MAGA Republican Congress members, they are out there hiding like MAGA Republican Congresswoman Miller Meeks, who said, why would I ever do a town hall? I'll do one when hell freezes over. Here's what she previously said. Play this clip.

[B]

Todd. You know, Barton is Cedar Rapids Gazette wins. Miller Meeks gonna hold in the town hall when hell freezes over. You know, I don't have to hold a town hall. So you can come and yell at me.

[A]

You can yell at me at the county fair.

[B]

And you did.

[C]

Because here's what the town halls look like when Chuck Grassley, MAGA Republican Senator Chuck Grassley did a town hall. I'll just give you a taste of what went down here. Play this clip.

[D]

My question to you is, why do you believe that President Trump is above the law?

[E]

And I'll just reinforce what other people have been saying here.

[D]

Why have you not spoken out for it?

[C]

Now I reflect on Donald Trump's trip to Iowa back on January 27, 2026, and remember what Donald Trump told the people of Iowa back then when he was speaking at like some weird rally where he said, we've got a beautiful armada help heading to Iran. Everybody in Iowa. It's floating beautifully toward Iran. I hope they make a. Trump was talking about the fake deal stuff with Iran back on January 27, 2026 in this footage that I've surfaced. He was in Iowa when he was saying that.

[E]

Here, play this clip.

[D]

I just. And by the way, there's another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now.

[B]

So we'll see.

[D]

I hope, I hope they make a deal. I hope they make a deal. They should have made a deal the first time they'd have a country.

[C]

And just so you go there and you fast forward to Friday when Donald Trump held that. What do you want him want to call it? That horrific, weird event in Wisconsin where he was speaking to farmers and he said, farmers, you have such a nice, safe, beautiful life. You don't get your ear pierced like me. You don't get your ear pierced. What are you talking about? Here?

[E]

Play this clip.

[D]

Or a small business. Now, I saw it myself. You have a way of life that sometimes you're land rich and cash poor. Sometimes you have lots of different conditions. But people that are on farms love being on Farms. You wouldn't trade my life. You wouldn't want my life. Believe me, you don't want it. Your life is much better than my life. I will tell you, your ear was a little pierced over here. You didn't get pierced. You have a nice, safe, beautiful life.

[C]

But I've seen now more data points emerging as well in Iowa. You have amongst independents, the Democratic Senate candidate, Josh Turek, who just won his primary, leading by 17 points among independents there. That's big news as well. You know what, why don't we bring in Turek right now because there's a lot going on in Iowa. I want to bring in the Democratic Senate candidate for Iowa and a compelling individual, you know, who's, who's just been an incredible beacon of light in Iowa. Let's bring in Josh Turek. Josh, it's great to see you.

[E]

We've had you on numerous times before. First and foremost, I just want to congratulate you for winning the primary. And now let's get right into it because the general election is right around the corner for the midterms for the Senate seat. Something special is happening in Iowa right now. And for our viewers who haven't been following what's happening in Iowa, I think a lot of them are though really going back to the beginning of Trump term. You know, early on when Trump was doing the Tariffs against the World, to me, Iowa was always the biggest indicator, frankly, of what was happening nationally in some of your state Senate seats. And then we saw it wasn't a fluke and then it kind of continued. And I think with your victory, even frankly, what we're seeing on the Republican side, for example, in the gubernatorial race where a Trump backed candidate, Randy Feenstra, was defeated by the person who Trump didn't endorse, a further right wing candidate, Zach Lang, because I think on all sides in Iowa right now, people are fed up with Trump. So I'll stop yapping if you could tell me, what do you see happen in Iowa right now, Josh?

[B]

Well, thanks for having me. It's great to see you again. Yeah, there's something special that's happening here in Iowa. Finally got some, some sleep and some rest. It's been a whirlwind over the last 48 hours, but we ended up winning 96 of the 99 counties, 26 point margin. And now onto to Ashley Henson. And as I've been saying for the last 10 months, I was going to be the center of the political universe. And it's because of bad policies that Ashley Henson have supported the Trump. Tariffs have led Iowa to leading the nation in farm foreclosures. Everywhere that we're going in the rural communities and talking with farmers, we keep hearing about farmers being betrayed and being upside down on their commodities prices. We're a state that is dead last for economic growth. 48th for personal income growth. One of two states already in an economic decline. We've closed 250 more healthcare clinics than we've opened in the last 15 years. Two in five Iowans are on Medicaid. Ashley Hinson voted for the big beautiful bill. 110,000 Iowans lose their health care. Thousands more lose food assistance. She didn't support the ACA subsidies. 119,000 Iowans seed their health care premiums double or triple four times. She voted in favor of the tariffs that have led us to this Farmageddon in this second farm crisis and is now 10 times more wealthy in her time in D.C. after not supporting initially a ban on stock trading. Iowans are fed up. They've had enough and they're ready for change. They're ready for a common sense prairie

[E]

populace like myself, you know Ashley Henson, MAGA Republican congresswoman. We, we did our audience may remember we showed the, I think two town halls that she did a while back where she was booed when she was really just gaslighting the audience saying, you're all doing better.

[C]

What are you talking about?

[E]

You're not rich. You're not rich, everybody.

[C]

You're not great.

[E]

This is the, this is the goal. And everyone's like, no, we're not. What are you talking about? We know Ashley Hinson. You know the lies and the MAGA sycophant that she is to our audience who, who haven't met you yet. If they haven't seen a video, tell them about who, who you are.

[B]

Sure. I'm a state representative. Josh Turek. I'm one of the first permanently disabled members of the Iowa legislature. The Iowa capitol wasn't even accessible when I, when I first ran. I'm born and raised in council bus Iowa working class family and in a working class community. And my family, we went to the Goodwill for clothes. We shared clothes, had the wrong color lunch tickets. I was born disability. I was born with a condition called spina bifida. It's due to my father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. So I had my first surgery at one day old. I had 21 surgeries by the time I was 12. Thankfully for me found wheelchair basketball because wheelchair basketball is able to get a college Education. And it went on to win to be in four Paralympic Games, won back to back gold medals representing the USA in wheelchair basketball. I've been a director of a nonprofit organization for disabled kids and got involved in politics four years ago because we were seeing the private of Medicaid was leading to 1000% increase in denial rate. I was working, assessing and providing mobility devices like power wheelchairs for individuals with progressive conditions like muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig's disease. And over and over we were seeing people that were just being denied, denied, denied health care. And I thought it was fundamentally wrong and found out that Iowa hadn't had a disabled member of the legislature. One in five Iowans are disabled. Capital wasn't even accessible. And I thought it's got to be because of this complete total lack of representation is why we're seeing all these barriers to health care and to employment. And so I decided to run and I went out there and drug my wheelchair upstairs every single day, rain or shine, hot or cold to win. My first election was the only Democrat to win a competitive election on the western side of the state, to win by the grand total of six votes. And turned around in this most recent election and the two communities that I represent, Trump won Carter Lake by 18 points and won my hometown in community of council bus by 10. I was able to win my district by nearly six points. That was 50% more over performance than any other Democrat in the state. And now have taken my message of common sense prairie populism around the state because we've got a once in a generation opportunity to be able to win Senator Harkin's seat back. He was the father of the American with Disabilities act. And it's because of senators like him and good common sense bipartisan legislation like the ADA that I've been able to win the American dream. And now I want to go out there and fight so that the American dream continues for the next generation generation of Iowans and for Americans. Because we're living through this second gilded age and it's the, the have and the and the have nots. We've had people like Ashley Hinson that are just looking out for the haves, the billionaires, the large corporations, the donors and the lobbyists. And we need more people like myself that are going to go out there and fight for the more vulnerable folks.

[E]

Now this past week we saw Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen testify before Congress. So Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins testify before Congress. And if you just listen to both of them, they would be telling you that the farmers in Iowa have never had it better, that they are crushing it. I mean, Treasury Secretary Bessant said, I'm a farmer. He said, and so I know what the farmers are going through, and I don't know what you're talking about. Things are great. And then Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, yeah, no, things actually have never been better. When she goes, when I speak to the farmers, whether it's in Iowa or elsewhere, they just tell me that this is the golden age that we promised them. So she goes, I don't know what you're talking about because, you know, I would see all these Democratic Congress members, you know, kind of cross examining them and. And Agriculture Secretary Rollins had this look like, what are you. You couldn't be further from the truth. Farmers, farmers and the American people in states like Iowa are never have been better in their lives. What do you say to Treasury Secretary Besant? I think also trying to steal the valor of the farmer. And Agriculture Secretary Rollins, I think they're

[B]

spending a lot of time with the bureaucratic billionaire farmers in D.C. and not enough time with farmers in Iowa. What I can tell you is in Iowa, every single place that we're going, we're hearing farmers that are terrified. I mean, it is a scary place to be a farmer in Iowa right now. It is what I'm calling a Farmageddon. It is a second farm crisis. Farm suicide rate are skyrocketing. We lead the nation in farm foreclosures. Everywhere we're going, we're hearing farmers say, talk about betrayal. They're talking about how Trump administration gives $20 billion to Argentina. Meanwhile, our Iowa farmers are upside down on their soybean prices and they can't make ends meet. And it's not just on bad tariff policy that Ashley Henson supported four times. It's that we've done nothing on breaking up monopolies, which have led to input prices going up 100%. We've done nothing on vertical integration. We haven't passed right to repair. I focused on here in the Iowa legislature because farmers need to be able to repair their equipment in a timely manner. We don't have mandatory of country of origin labeling, which is why we've lost 100,000 beef producers. We haven't passed a damn farm bill. We're two years overdue. And we haven't had anybody that's going out there to actually fight for our rural communities, our farmers, our small family farmers. You go in these rural communities, I promise you Trump signs, Trump flags, they are coming down. These are communities that have been hollowed out. The small businesses have been decimated. They have lost their pharmacies, they've lost their grocery. Grocery stores. They are losing their health care clinics because of votes like the big beautiful bill. And now they're losing their schools because here in Iowa, we're giving private schools public money. And, and we haven't had anybody that's been out there actually looking out for our, our farmers in our rural communities. It is a scary place to be a farmer right now in Iowa. And I'm ready to go out there and actually fight for them and for our rural communities. So this isn't the last generation of small family farms we see in Iowa.

[E]

Josh, where can people learn more about the Senate campaign and any message you want to deliver to our 7 million subscribers?

[B]

Absolutely. Well, it's right here. It's behind me. Turek for Iowa. It's Turek. T U R E K. The number four Iowa dot com. What I would say is this is a generational chance. This is the first time since 1968 we've got an open governor's race, an open Senate race, two open congressional races. This is a state that can be won in Trump's first midterm. We won three of the four congressional races. We've got polling that has shown me leading Ashley Hinson by two points. The most recent polling showing this race tied. We can win this race. And if we can win here in Iowa, we not only generationally change the state of Iowa, we will change this country. Iowans are ready for a common sense, prairie populace like myself. I'm battle tested. I'm doing the work. And we can win the Senate race and we can change this country together with all of your. With all of your help.

[E]

Josh Turek, great to see you again.

[B]

Great to see you, my friend.

[E]

And congratulations on the big win. Everybody. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in?

[C]

Become a subscriber to our [e-mail] you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only [e-mail].