Democrats fighting for Iowa Senate seat tussle over Chuck Schumer and super PACs

DES MOINES, Iowa — Two Democrats seeking to flip one of Iowa’s Republican-held Senate seats spent Wednesday evening at a forum here, appealing to progressive activists and voters who could influence the June primary.

But it was a Democrat from 1,100 miles away who emerged as a tension point.

State Sen. Zach Wahls attempted to characterize his primary rival, state Rep. Josh Turek, as an extension of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. While Schumer has not endorsed in the race, there have been signals that he prefers Turek.

Playing to a crowd unhappy with the influence of big money in politics, Wahls linked Turek to Schumer by noting Turek’s support from VoteVets, an outside spending group that has aligned with Senate Democratic leadership in the past.

“We are talking right now about the impact of corporate PAC money and how that has affected a lot of Iowans in our economy, but right now, there is a dark money super PAC that is currently spending millions of dollars bolstering Rep. Turek’s campaign,” Wahls said at the forum, co-hosted by Progress Iowa and End Citizens United, which advocates for overturning the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that loosened campaign finance restrictions and became a rallying point for Democrats.

“My promise to every single person here watching is this: as your U.S. senator, I will not be there to work for Chuck Schumer or for Donald Trump or the billionaires or the big corporations. I am running for the United States Senate because Iowans deserve a senator who works for us.”

A spokesperson for the Schumer-controlled Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did a representative from VoteVets, a group that typically backs military veterans. The group is supporting Turek — who was born with spina bifida attributed to his father’s exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam — with more than $2 million in advertising so far.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Turek reaffirmed his own opposition to dark money but did not disavow VoteVets’ involvement in the race. He also noted that, as a candidate, he cannot coordinate with super PACs.

“I think it’s disappointing that he he’s trying to take this in such a negative” direction, Turek said when asked about Wahls’ attempts to tie him to Schumer. “Anybody that heard myself and then heard Sen. Wahls, you’ll see a very distinct energy there. I am someone that is talking about the need for hope and positivity and optimism and the need to focus on the issues — not on going after him.”

The Senate seat is up for grabs here after Republican incumbent Joni Ernst decided not to seek re-election this year. And despite a growing number of comfortable, double-digit wins for Republicans in Iowa in recent years, the race has emerged as a sleeper in the battle for partisan control of the chamber — a notion ratified this week when the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund announced it would invest $29 million in the state.

The effort is aimed at boosting the Senate campaign of Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is expected to be the GOP nominee. Democrats worry that a discordant and expensive primary between Turek and Wahls could weaken the eventual nominee.

Turek, a Paralympic gold medalist in basketball, described the Republican super PAC’s plans as a “rescue” effort for Hinson, “because they know that Iowans are sick of politicians that put billionaires, corporations, and party bosses over working class folks, and they know that a candidate like me, who has won twice in Trump country, is going to be a formidable opponent.”

Wahls said the development is proof that Iowa is in play.

“I think that our voters are very fired up. Republican base voters are fully demotivated,” Wahls said. “And I absolutely agree that the $29 million that they just announced shows that Republicans are afraid of losing this seat.”

But national Republicans are eager to exploit the acrimony between the two Democrats.

“Chuck Schumer’s primary problem is on full display tonight as Josh Turek and Zach Wahls are set for a head-to-head matchup in Iowa’s messy Democrat Senate primary,” said National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Samantha Cantrell. “Radical Zach Wahls has won the hearts of Democrats’ progressive base, and establishment-backed Josh Turek can’t seem to keep up.”

Through December 2025, Wahls had raised about $2 million and ended the year with $733,000, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Turek had raised about $1.7 million, with just under $400,000 remaining. Both campaigns announced $1.1 million fundraising hauls for the first quarter of 2026, though their official filings, which will confirm how much cash each has on hand, will not be available until next week.

Turek and Wahls appeared separately on stage at Wednesday’s forum and, the Schumer squabble aside, offered similarly populist answers on business and economic issues.

“We can have oligarchy or we can have democracy, but we cannot have both,” Turek said. “And I want to go to the U.S. Senate to be fighting for Iowa and Iowans, not for large corporations or billionaires.”

Wahls posed a rhetorical question to the audience: “Does anybody here think that Elon Musk needed another tax cut?”

Each was asked to distinguish himself from his opponent. Wahls, 34, seized it as an opportunity to bring up Schumer and VoteVets. Wahls also touted his youth as a selling point.

“I was first elected in 2018 at the age of 27,” Wahls said. “I was the youngest member of the Iowa Senate. Seven years later, I am still the youngest member of the Iowa Senate at the age of 34. And when we defeat Ashley Hinson in November, I will be the youngest member of the United States Senate.”

Turek, 46, was more conciliatory when asked what makes him different from Wahls.

“I don’t have anything disparaging to say about Sen. Wahls,” Turek said. “Zach is a smart and articulate guy.”

But Turek also argued that he is more electable in a state that has become increasingly Republican, noting that he flipped a red state legislative district in western Iowa in 2022.

“I know that I can win,” Turek told reporters after the event. “Zach hopes he can win. … This is not the moment to, you know, to try and experiment. I am battle-tested.”

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