Iowa Democrat Senate nominee Josh Turek was absent for votes involving citizenship and residency requirements for public assistance eligibility and verification of voters’ citizenship, drawing comparisons to fellow Iowa Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott’s opposition to similar measures as New Jersey faces investigations over thousands of noncitizens erroneously added to its voter rolls.
Turek, an Iowa state representative since 2023, is running against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
Turek was absent or not voting on March 7, 2024 when the Iowa House considered House File 2608, which concerned “state residency and citizenship status in determining eligibility for public assistance,” as well as human smuggling and related penalties. The measure passed the Iowa House.
Hinson’s campaign announced in a press release this week that Turek missed a March 25, 2025 vote to verify the citizenship status of Iowa voters.
“Josh Turek would side with Chuck Schumer and Far-Left Democrats against commonsense voter ID and election security,” Hinson Campaign Communications Director Billy Fuerst said. “Turek skipping a vote to verify the citizenship status of Iowa voters tells you everything you need to know – he doesn’t care about election integrity.”
According to the Daily Nonpareil, Turek “suggested that voters should be automatically registered to vote upon getting their driver’s license, similar to Colorado.”
Turek’s legislative record parallels that of Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, the radical Democrat challenging Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s Third Congressional District, who opposed similar legislation. Trone Garriott opposed an Iowa measure preventing illegal aliens from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and voted against a separate bill requiring citizenship verification in elections.
This comes after Iowa received no votes from members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee to represent the Midwest as a potential early 2028 presidential-primary state, prompting Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle to write, “Can’t see how this helps Democrats win back the Senate. Massive gift from the DNC to the Ashley Hinson campaign.”
Boyle was responding to Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson, who reported that Michigan won the committee’s vote “overwhelmingly.”
Turek’s record has received renewed attention after New Jersey disclosed that approximately 6,600 people who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens were nevertheless registered through the state’s motor-vehicle system between June 2023 and June 2024, with fewer than 400 later casting ballots. Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) blamed a software failure under former Gov. Phil Murphy (D), ordered an investigation and the removal of the registrations, and said the state had begun replacing the vendor, while the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division opened an investigation and 19 House Republicans led by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) sought answers about the ballots cast, potentially affected races, and whether the state supports documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Turek missed 261 Iowa House votes between January 12 and May 3, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the chamber’s votes during that period, including measures involving rural health, medical licensing, and education standards. The Iowa House chief clerk confirmed that Turek collected $20,100 in legislative per diem payments while receiving the maximum daily tax-free per diem of $201. A Turek campaign spokesperson responded by pointing to Hinson missing votes on the annual defense-funding bill to attend a Washington, DC, fundraiser and said Turek was ranked among Iowa’s most bipartisan and effective lawmakers and had worked with Republicans to cut taxes for Iowa families and keep dangerous criminals off the streets.
Turek also voted against three measures restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in Iowa’s public education system between April 2024 and May 2025, including bills prohibiting public universities from employing DEI officers, barring colleges from requiring DEI- or critical-race-theory-related coursework for graduation, and preventing state funding from supporting DEI offices and initiatives in higher education and K-12 schools. The University of Northern Iowa subsequently revised language concerning “traditionally marginalized students,” while the Iowa City School District has since closed its former Department of Equity. Turek, who has described himself as a “prairie populist” and “common-sense” lawmaker capable of appealing to “Iowans of all political stripes,” also calls for ending Iowa’s school-choice voucher program and benefited from $10 million in primary spending by VoteVets, a Democratic group tied to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
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