Latest posts tagged with #IASEN on Bluesky
📌🔅ZACH WAHLS - He Went Viral at 19. Now He Could Be USA’s Youngest Senator.
The Contrarian 3/15/2026
#IASEN #ZachWahls #Senate2026
In 2011, a 19-year-old Zach Wahls went viral for his impassioned speech before the Iowa legislature. Now, at 34 years old, he is stepping up to bring a new generation
Democrats should absolutely play for Iowa's Senate seat and all of the statewide offices.
But no one should be naive about the hole Dem candidates start in. The voter registration gap is larger now than when I highlighted the problem last June. #IASen #IAGov
laurabelin.substack.com/p/the-bigges...
Just adding that #IASen candidate Josh Turek overperformed Rob Sand in his state legislative district.
My thread on this and #IAGov and #IASen… bottom line is the Republican registration edge is not really proof of anything except maybe you should try and convince some of them to vote for you….which hello is what‘s happening
Probably the biggest question for the #IASen race is what Rob Sand will do in the #IAGov race, and who his Republican opponent is. If Sand goes all out against a toxic Republican candidate, he’s going to approach 60%. Ashley Hinson can win in that crossover environment, but it’s not favorable.
#IASen Democratic candidate Josh Turek @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social spoke to reporters on Thursday morning after turning in his papers as for the June primary.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkhJ...
Screw it! Senate ratings:
#NCSen: Lean D
#IASen: Lean R
#OHSen: Lean R
#TXSen: Likely R if Cornyn wins. Lean R if Paxton wins
#AKSen: Toss-Up
#MESen: Toss-up
#GASen: Lean D
Esteemed Iowa State Senator @zachwahls.bsky.social could be making a national name for himself by leading a principled movement (hunger strike, chain yourself to a door, anything) against the war. Instead he’s fooling around with a gas pump on video and not even mentioning Iran. #IASen
Thanks to all who have offered to share notes on the latest message-testing poll in Iowa's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
I have a recording and will be discussing this and another recent Zach Wahls/Josh Turek poll on Monday night's edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week." #Iowa #IASen #iapolitics
Here’s #IASen Dem candidate @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social opposing a GOP bill that would mandate teaching US History as “exceptional and praiseworthy.” Says atrocities in Vietnam affect veterans to this day, caused his Spina Bifida. This is about teaching, but there is an anti-war voice in there.
"Hospitals are making cuts after ‘big beautiful bill,’ fueling Democrats’ midterm attacks"
www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/p...
#iapolitics #iasen #iagov #ia01 #ia02 #ia03 #nhpolitics #nhsen #nhgov #nh01 #nh02 #txlege #txsen #txgov #mepolitics #mesen #megov #me01 #me02
Ashley Hinson has proven time and again that she is ineffective at standing up for Iowa’s farmers — the only thing she delivers is broken promises. #IASen
www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/p...
The Trump tariffs have plunged Iowa into an economic crisis. I spoke with Josh Turek, a two-time gold medal paralympian who is running for Senate, who says this makes Iowa ripe for the picking for Democrats. #IASen
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Turek said he wants to focus mostly on raising the minimum wage – including eliminating subminimum wage labor for people with disabilities – give collective bargaining for all workers and prevent Wall Street firms from buying single-family homes. He also called for repealing the cuts to Medicaid in the One Big, Beautiful Bill. Those cuts caused a firestorm in Iowa as it put funding for the state’s rural hospitals at risk. During the deliberation around the bill, Ernst faced criticism when people said they would die because of Medicaid cuts and she said “We all are going to die.”
I interviewed Josh Turek, a retired Paralympian running for #IASen, about how Democrats can reconnect with working people and he voluntarily brought up ending subminimum wage labor for people with disabilities. That's never happened before. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
I wound up talking to Josh Turek, a former Paralympian basketball player running as a Democrat for Senate in Iowa, the day that the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs. He said he thinks tariffs might are one of the defining issues in #IASen.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Ashley Hinson posts a letter to the editor touting her from... her constituent service rep's husband.
Can't even find a person not being paid to say nice things
#iasen
The NRSC clearly wants to run against Wahls here, I think #IAsen dems are underdogs but Zach Wahls losing 44-54 versus Josh Turek losing 47-52 or 48-51 could make a lot of difference in terms of Rob Sand winning or losing #IAgov which will be extremely close
Josh Turek is an Olympic Gold Medalist who says he wants to be a Senator to represent the 1 in 5 Americans with a disability, and says he owes his life to the social safety enacted through the US Senate. That is a much better candidate than whatever Zach Wahls offers. So why is Wahls running? #IASen
Staff for @zachwahls.bsky.social and @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social both told me they did NOT commission a new poll that asks #Iowa Dems which appeals to them:
“Josh Turek, who is backed by Chuck Schumer” or “Zach Wahls, who is aligned with Bernie Sanders” #IASen
laurabelin.substack.com/p/sizing-up-...
Who's up late? My recap of Monday night's edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week" is online.
We spent most of the first half on the state of play in the Democratic primary for #IASen, and most of the second half on news from the Iowa legislature.
laurabelin.substack.com/p/sizing-up-...
We saw it coming. Many policy & political reasons:
-Trump tariffs hurt farmers
-Trump healthcare cuts hurt rural hospitals
-Trump hurts Iowa's robust renewable energy industry
-VERY strong #IAGov candidate
-competitive #IA01 #IA02 #IA03 races
#IASen #iapolitics #Iowa @iowademocrats.bsky.social
We spent most of the first half sizing up the Zach Wahls/Josh Turek primary after the big shake-up in the #IASen race. You can listen to "KHOI's Capitol Week" now on podcast platforms.
Full day of subcommittees today so my email with the written recap will go out later here: laurabelin.substack.com
Hits keep coming in the #IASen race
Here’s the thing for Zach Wahls: if everyone is uniting against you, there should be a clear story as to why. Maybe they’re afraid of your policy on Gaza, or on universal healthcare, or on taxing billionaires out of existence.. so why here?
You can listen to tonight's episode of "KHOI's Capitol Week" now on podcast platforms. We talked about the #IASen Democratic shake-up, some news from Congress & lots of news from #ialegis.
Tomorrow I'll send the audio & a detailed written recap on my free newsletter: laurabelin.substack.com
In a few minutes @spencerdirks.bsky.social and I will be live on @khoiradio to talk about the #IASen race and lots of news from the #Iowa legislature.
89.1 FM in the Ames listening area or online: www.khoifm.org
(will be on podcast platforms later as "KHOI's Capitol Week")
We are on track for a comprehensive victory over Zach Wahls in the primary #IASen
This week alone, Ashley Hinson voted multiple times to maintain price-hiking tariffs. Iowans pay the price while she plays politics. #IASen
www.americanbridgepac.org/ashley-hinson-supports-p...
I haven't endorsed anyone in the primary and don't plan to. Not sure where you got the idea that I am supporting Wahls.
I'm very aware of how challenging it will be for any Democrat to win #IASen, don't need your input on that.
www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/06/15/r...
I haven't been bullish on #IASen but it is certainly in play. I would say Texas is even more of a longshot.
Primary day in #Iowa is June 2, three and a half months out.
I'll enjoy watching #IASen play out, as I currently don't have strong feelings between @joshturek4iowa.bsky.social & @zachwahls.bsky.social and see compelling aspects of both of their candidacies.
#iapolitics
