SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek is running ads calling for border security.
asserted
Turek → run → security
He’s touting his votes with Republicans in the statehouse.
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He → tout → statehouse
Turek is criticizing his party for obstructing farm and data center legislation and says he has “no interest” in talking about impeachment.
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he → criticize → impeachment
He even embraces a term that Democrats rarely use these days.
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Democrats → embrace → that
And I say that I’m proudly a moderate,” Turek told Semafor on the banks of the Missouri River.
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Turek → say → River
“Socially, culturally, you could define me as moderate.”
uncertain
you → define → me
In one of the country’s closest Senate races, state Rep. Turek and GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson are competing for a small slice of independent-minded Iowans who will decide their race — and with it, potentially, the Senate majority.
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who → compete → it
They’re both blue-chip recruits: Hinson is a former Iowa TV reporter who ousted a Democratic incumbent in 2020; Turek is a gold medal-winning Paralympian who won his first statehouse race by six votes.
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who → ’re → votes
And the appeals from each candidate are similar: I’m the real pragmatist, and my opponent is just pretending to be one.
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opponent → ’m → candidate
Notably, Hinson launched her campaign with a vow to be Trump’s “top ally” before putting distance between them.
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Hinson → launch → them
What’s more, if Turek and candidates like fellow Great Plains Democrat Adam Hamilton win, it would tilt the center of gravity in the party’s Senate caucus toward a center that’s lost ground in recent years.
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that → ’ → years
So Republicans are running ads that affirm Turek’s distance from the left, while casting him as unable to hold it back:
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that → run → it
“I know Josh Turek isn’t a socialist, but can we trust him to say no to his party?” asks an Americans for Prosperity ad.
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ad → know → Prosperity
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Semafor that “even if he is a different kind of Democrat” — emphasizing the “if” — Turek’s association with his party leadership is still damaging.
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association → tell → leadership
“When he gets to Washington, DC, which isn’t going to happen, he’s going to get a lot of pressure to vote for a lot of these really wild schemes,” Grassley said.
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Grassley → get → schemes
Hinson describes her opponent’s campaign as a “tale of two Tureks.
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Hinson → describe → Tureks
In the primary, he was trashing the president, and now he’s saying that he wants to work with him.
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he → trash → him
I know Iowans are going to see right through that.”
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Iowans → know → that
The charge clearly irks Turek who said Hinson’s “masquerading.
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Hinson → irk → Turek
I mean that’s a problem for me.
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that → mean → me
I’m genuinely a bipartisan person,” he added.
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he → ’m → ?
And on the day of Trump’s latest Iowa visit, Sioux City newspaper readers were greeted with an ad bragging that Turek “voted with Republicans 700+ times.”
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Turek → greet → Republicans
Turek called it “fearmongering” to portray his candidacy as empowering the left, vowing to “100%” be a check on his party’s liberal impulses.
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Turek → call → impulses
“‘What do you think about impeachment?’
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you → think → impeachment
I believe we should look forward, not backwards,” Turek said.
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Turek → believe → ?
Turek’s been a lonely Democrat before: He and state Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Iowa, were the only Democrats representing Western Iowa in the Iowa House for years.
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He → represent → years
Scholten told Semafor that experience positions Turek to convert frustrated Republicans.
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experience → tell → Republicans
“We don’t have the luxury of talking just to Democrats out here in Western Iowa,” Scholten said.
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Scholten → have → Iowa
“You have to talk to everybody, and I think that has benefited him in a huge way.”
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that → have → way
“He’s our best candidate since [former Sen. Tom] Harkin,” Scholten added.
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Scholten → ’ → Harkin
Hinson’s Move to the Middle
Polls show the race as essentially tied, with little real movement for months.
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race → show → months
Amid the deadlock, Hinson is making her own play for the center.
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Hinson → make → center
“That’s a tradition in Iowa,” Grassley explained.
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Grassley → ’ → Iowa
“They expect us to represent Iowa interests and not just the interests of whoever’s president of the United States.”
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whoever → expect → States
She is a sitting House Republican, with her own voting record in support of the president’s agenda, including the tax cut law.
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She → sit → law
She’s also campaigning with Trump down the stretch, even as she criticized a polarizing ad by Ohio’s GOP gubernatorial nominee that Trump defended.
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Trump → campaign → that
After supporting it in several House votes, Hinson now opposes Trump’s Iran war and is breaking with his Russia dealmaking.
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Hinson → support → dealmaking
Asked if she should have voted against the Iran conflict when she had a chance, she said: “I look forward.
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I → ask → chance
That’s how I always operate.
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I → ’ → ?
And when you look at where we are right now, I’ve asked the president to end the war.”
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I → look → war
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
