6 takeaways from Josh Turek's town hall today in Denison
DENISON, Iowa —
State Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, spoke late this morning in Denison at the Norelius Community Library in the Crawford County seat. Here are six takeaways from the event, which drew about 20 people for a Q&A in the historic upper floor of the Denison library:
1. Born with spina bifida that is linked to his father’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, Turek spoke about the legacy of war — of service and sacrifice — and how it continues to effect his family — and himself.
It’s one of the more poignant and affecting moments I have seen this campaign cycle.
“When we are talking about what is going on in a conflict like Iran I am an example of the generational consequences of these forever wars that are absolutely unnecessary,” Turek said.
A two-time gold-medal winner for Team USA in basketball in the Paralympics, Turek later played professional adaptive basketball and built a career in adaptive sports, working with and advocating for people with disabilities.
He’s encountered many disabled veterans in this work.
“One of the best ways we have seen veterans be able to have rehabilitation is through adaptive sports,” Turek said. “I have seen first-hand far too many of our guys and gals, heroes, that are coming back missing arms, missing legs.”
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2. Minutes into the town hall today in Denison the chairman of the Crawford County Democratic Party offered a defining observation of Turek.
“He has kind of a destiny, I think,” said Larry Peterson, a fixture for years in Democratic circles in western Iowa.
“He has all the right beliefs,” Peterson added.
In an interview after the event Peterson said he spotted potential in Turek, years ago, during Turek’s service as a state legislator.
“Just his life story makes him so totally electable and representative of people,” Peterson, a Denison resident, said.
Peterson said he believed in 2023 that Turek would be the Democrats’ best chance in 2026 U.S. Senate race.
“I think as this campaign keeps moving people will pay attention,” he said.
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3. Joanne Sachau, 83, of Charter Oak, a retired special education teacher in the Denison school district who is married to a retired truck driver, is similarly drawn to Turek’s life story.
Turek started his political career by going door to door in one the hilliest cities in Iowa — Council Bluffs. The mission required Turek to battle his disability block by block, house by house, as he uses a wheelchair.
“He just has such a great message and he has enthusiasm,” Sachau said. “If he can climb steps and pull that chair up those steps, that’s determination. I’ve seen him on TV now or on Facebook now and he is going backwards up steps.”
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4. Turek’s wife is a native of the Dominican Republic. Immigration issues, and the attendant concerns over racial profiling, are front and center in his household, Turek said, noting recent horrors with ICE and other immigration matters.
“Families like mine are scared,” Turek said. “I should not have to be in a situation where my wife, because she is Afra-Latina, and she is dark skinned, and she is a native Spanish speaker, that I am having to tell her, ‘Keep your passport with you.’ Or I am having to tell my mother in law, who does not speak a word of English, and who is here in this country right now ‘you have to keep all of your documents on you.’ It is fundamentally wrong.”
If he were in the U.S. Senate now, Turek said he would oppose Department of Homeland Security funding until there are serious reforms with ICE — no mask wearing, body camera mandates and protections for rights of the people ICE encounters.
“It needs serious, serious reform right now,” Turek said. “What we are seeing right now is fundamentally un-American.”
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5. Similarly, Turek said, he understands what the education voucher regimes mean as private schools advance at the expense of public schools in Iowa, and much of the nation.
There are not guardrails on the public money going to private grade schools and high school in Iowa today, no audits, no rules on potential discrimination, meaning, Turek said, that private schools can turn away people with disabilities who are more costly to serve with no explanation.
“Maybe most egregiously they don’t have any discrimination policies in place,” Turek said. “So someone like me with a disability, you have an (individual education plan), ‘sorry, we are not taking you, good luck.’ Meanwhile, our public education system is dealing with it.”
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6. Most immediately, Turek faces a June 2 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate with State Sen. Zach Wahls from Coralville. The two are vying for what is expected to be a general election race with Republican Ashley Hinson, an eastern Iowa congresswoman from Marion, outside of Cedar Rapids.
Turek said Iowans will learn that he can best relate to their day to day issues as he’s the only candidate in the race who is not a millionaire.
“Ashley Hinson is Joni Ernst 2.0, arguably worse,” Turek said.
Health-care is more difficult to obtain because of votes Hinson and other Republicans have cast, Turek said, adding that the congresswoman has supported tariffs that are challenging Iowa farms.
The nation does not need more millionaires in Congress, Turek said.
“We need more individuals from places like Council Bluffs, Iowa, people who have gone through real hardship, both on the economics and the health-care side, because when you’ve lived it, when you’ve experienced it first hand, you will have a different level of empathy, you will have a different level of fight,” Turek said.
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Strong essay about a highly electable candidate, Doug.
He is my candidate for sure. I hope people will really listen to what he has to say. Thank you for covering his campaign.