AMES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic voters in Iowa are struggling to choose between two candidates in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primary, with many focused on selecting whoever has the strongest chance of defeating the Republican incumbent this fall.
The challenge is that many voters can’t determine which of the two state legislators running would be the stronger general election candidate.
“I am having a lot of trouble,” said Mike Lazere, a 65-year-old Democrat who always votes on Election Day.
State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge the seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst in a state where the GOP holds advantages but Democrats believe they might have an opportunity.
The primary decision carries significant weight for Iowa’s Democratic voters, who lack recent examples of winning statewide candidates to inform their choice. The most recent Democrat to capture federal office statewide was President Barack Obama in 2012. Republicans hold all six federal delegation seats, and the GOP has controlled the statehouse for nearly ten years. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator, Tom Harkin, won election in 2008 and stepped down six years later.
U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is seeking the GOP nomination, and a Republican-aligned political group has already committed $29 million to protect the seat.
While Turek and Wahls claim their differences are obvious, voters who remain undecided see things differently.
“They both have strong legislative records. They both have compelling stories. I think they both share my values,” Lazere said Thursday outside of the Ames public library, where Story County Democrats had just held their monthly meeting.
“Since they’re so close, I just want the candidate who is more likely to have a chance,” he said. “It’s an uphill battle, probably, in Iowa still.”
At the Des Moines Farmers’ Market last weekend, where both candidates moved through the crowds, Sundie Ruppert voiced her support for Turek as he walked past her tent, declaring he had her vote.
Ruppert described the race as an “embarrassment of riches,” something that’s been uncommon recently. She said the two candidates support “virtually everything the same,” so for her, the question is who can attract crossover support to win in November.
Turek, a four-time wheelchair basketball Paralympian born with spina bifida, believes his story of overcoming challenges and his political positions will attract independent and moderate Republican voters. He represents a state House district that supported President Donald Trump.
Turek said he’s concentrated on securing a livable wage, health care access and drinkable water, not the culture-war issues that he said Republicans use to distract voters from the core problems they are facing.
“I’m not gonna get dragged down the rabbit hole of worrying about these distraction issues,” Turek said in an interview.
“I think that if we are going to win again in a state like Iowa, it is going be a message of economic populism,” he said. “It is going to be that we as a Democratic Party stand for the workers and for the middle class. That’s the way forward.”
Ruppert said she believes general election voters are more likely to support Turek, even if they “have to hold their nose.”
“We’ve got to get the independents,” she said. “I do believe that Josh in a red district has better pull than Wahls.”
About 37 miles (60 kilometers) north in Ames on Thursday, Shellie Orngard said she’s heard that reasoning and remains unconvinced.
Orngard said both are good people and strong candidates, but Wahls strikes her as “somebody with real character behind his convictions.”
“I think that whether you’re Democrat or Republican or independent, you appreciate authenticity and real values,” Orngard said. “I think Zach Wahls just seems to have the character that I feel he’s the person that I want to put my vote behind.”
Wahls says he’s the candidate willing to defy leadership in both parties, and he has criticized Turek for not rejecting Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer as caucus leader.
He says his anti-establishment message is winning back the working-class voters, especially common across eastern Iowa, who supported Obama before they pivoted to Trump.
“We’re not just talking about building a coalition that can win in November, we are already doing it,” he said. “These are voters who are not hardcore MAGA Trump Republicans. A lot of them are just really frustrated with both parties, they don’t trust Washington, they don’t trust the establishment.”
“And what we hear from people all the time is, ‘Even if we don’t agree on every issue, if you are willing to take them on, you’ve got my vote,’” Wahls said.
Iowa has changed dramatically since Obama’s victory in 2012, supporting Trump in the last three presidential elections. Democrats trail Republicans by roughly 200,000 registered voters statewide.
Rob Sand, state auditor and candidate for governor, was the only Democrat to win statewide in 2022.
Nearly 30,000 Democrats have already cast their ballots as of Friday, according to data from the secretary of state’s office. Still, in Ellston on Wednesday, many of the two dozen southwest Iowa Democrats waiting to hear from Turek said they’d rely on a gut feeling.
“As far as I’m concerned, Ashley Hinson has got to be beat,” said Lynne Wallace, a 67-year-old from Mount Ayr. The committed Democrat said she’d support either candidate in the general election, already eager to make calls and knock on doors, but added that she’s got “shaky faith” that either Democrat can pull it off.
Lois Rose, 77, and her 79-year-old husband, John, said at the Des Moines farmers’ market that they might not vote in the primary at all since they, so far, hadn’t been able to make up their minds on whether one candidate is stronger than the other.
She suggested the pair could also coordinate their votes, each casting a ballot for one of the two. John liked the idea.
“They’re both so qualified,” said Lois Rose of West Des Moines. “They’re both very genuine, hence the difficulty.”
