Democrats Flip Iowa Twice as Turek Beats Hinson and Rob Sand Wins Governor

Democrat Josh Turek defeated Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for Iowa’s open Senate seat Tuesday, and Democrat Rob Sand won the governor’s race, flipping two top offices in a state Trump carried easily in 2024.

The Associated Press called the Senate race at 11:35 p.m. Eastern, with Turek leading Hinson 50.8% to 46.1%. NBC News called it minutes earlier, with more than 90% of the vote counted.

Turek is the first Democrat since Barack Obama to win a statewide federal race in Iowa, the AP reported. He will replace retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who had endorsed Hinson.

“They told me it was impossible to win this Senate race, but tonight, Iowa, we have once again proved that the impossible is possible,” Turek told supporters in Des Moines.

Hinson thanked her staff and said she will “continue to fight for common sense.” She added, “I think we ran an absolutely fabulous campaign across the state.”

Trump Visits Weren’t Enough

Hinson launched her campaign promising to be Trump’s “top ally” in the Senate but later billed herself as “Iowa’s best bipartisan fighter.” She still appeared beside Trump during two Iowa visits in the campaign’s final two weeks, the AP reported.

In September, Hinson said Iowans “shouldn’t have to foot the bill” for the Iran war. A majority of Iowa voters still saw her as “too supportive” of Trump, according to the AP Voter Poll.

About 7 in 10 Iowa Senate voters said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the direction of the country, and about half called government corruption “crucial” to their vote, the poll found.

The retirements of Ernst and Gov. Kim Reynolds left Iowa’s top two races without incumbents for the first time since 1968, and Democrats seized on fuel prices and tariffs that squeezed the state’s farm economy.

Turek, a state representative and Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, ran as a “prairie populist” focused on farm consolidation and rural health care, the Washington Examiner reported.

He said he would work with Trump on border security and ending taxes on tips and overtime. One of his campaign ads on transgender issues drew backlash from LGBTQ groups, the Daily Caller reported.

Democrats also flipped three House seats in Iowa. Rep. Zach Nunn lost to Sarah Trone Garriott, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks lost to Christina Bohannan, and Hinson’s open seat went to Lindsay James, according to the AP.

In the governor’s race, Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn, flipping a seat Republicans held for nearly two decades and breaking the GOP’s grip on state government, the AP reported.

“Come January, we will be forced to work together,” said Sand, the state auditor and the only Democrat in statewide office. “Balanced government has been restored.”

Lahn, a first-time candidate, won the June primary by less than a point over Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra. He wished Sand well but told supporters, “The fight is just beginning right now.”

Turek will be one of four Democrats in Iowa’s congressional delegation, ending years of all-Republican representation in Washington.

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