Josh Turek

Turek was born on April 12, 1979, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with spina bifida; his campaign website links the condition to his father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and says he had 21 surgeries by the age of 12.[3][4][7] He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs and played basketball at Southwest Minnesota State University, graduating in 2002 with a bachelor's degree, and he later earned an MBA from DeVry University.[3][4] Before seeking office he played wheelchair basketball professionally in Europe for nearly two decades and for the U.S. national team in four Paralympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 2012 and gold medals in 2016 and 2020, according to Wikipedia; his campaign website calls him a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and says his basketball career ended with a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.[3][4][7]

While playing professionally, Turek began as volunteer director of the Ryan Martin Foundation, which gives disabled children opportunities to play sports for free; he also worked with patients and doctors at a wheelchair and mobility-assistance company, identified by Wikipedia as NuMotion, to provide mobility devices and complex rehabilitation technology, according to his campaign website.[4][7] He was inducted into the athletic halls of fame at Abraham Lincoln High School and Southwest Minnesota State University and into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame.[4]

Turek won Iowa House District 20 in 2022, defeating Republican Sarah Abdouch by 3,403 votes to 3,397, a margin of six votes out of about 6,800 cast, after a recount requested by his opponent; according to Wikipedia, the district had voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968, and he took office on January 9, 2023, as the legislature's first permanently disabled member. He was re-elected in 2024 with 52.5% of the vote over James Wassell.[3][7] His campaign website says the seat had voted for Donald Trump twice before his first win.[4] Ballotpedia lists his 2025-2026 House committee assignments as Human Resources, Natural Resources, State Government and Veterans Affairs, plus the Health Policy Oversight Committee.[3] According to Wikipedia, he led bipartisan legislation, the "Work without Worry" program, removing Medicaid income limits for employed Iowans with disabilities.[3][7] He announced his U.S. Senate candidacy on August 12, 2025.[1][7] He won the June 2, 2026, Democratic primary for U.S. Senate over Zach Wahls, 62.6% to 37.3%.[1][3] Turek lives in Council Bluffs with his wife, Jarolin, who works in health care.[4] During the campaign, he emphasized health care, public education and costs for middle-class families.[4] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 50.5% of the vote to Ashley Hinson's 46.4%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[5]