Trump dominates the Iowa Senate debate from afar

President Donald Trump was the main character in a televised Iowa Senate debate Wednesday night between Democrat Josh Turek, a state representative, and Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson. Turek hammered Hinson for supporting Trump policies that he says are the culprit in rising costs for Iowa families — from “chaotic tariffs” to the war in Iran — whether they live in cities or on farms.“The real issue is that Iowans are hurting, and they’re hurting uniquely,” Turek said. “I’m hearing ‘I’m struggling to keep food on the table, I’m struggling to pay my electric bill, I’m struggling to keep a roof above my head,’ and now with this war in Iran, ‘I’m struggling just to keep gas in my tank.’” He noted that Hinson voted seven times against curtailing the war and five times against reining in Trump’s tariffs.Hinson fired back, accusing Turek of skipping out on votes in the state Legislature, being “too liberal” for the state and lying when he accused her of using her position to enrich her family.“It’s one thing to vote like an East Coast liberal, it’s another to lie like them,” she said. At another point, she jabbed Turek for flip-flopping on his willingness to legislate with Trump. “You trashed the president during the primary, and now you’re doing ads saying you’re going to work with him,” she said. “It’s a tale of two Tureks.”But by modern standards, the debate over a Senate seat that is one of a handful which will determine party control of the chamber was unusually civil. Hinson expressed her sympathy over Turek’s sister being diagnosed with cancer, and Turek nodded to the pain caused to both candidates by negative ads. And both of them pledged to work with Trump or a future Democratic president.“You work with the person who’s going to sign the bills, no matter who that person is, on things that are important to your state, and that’s exactly what I’ve done,” Hinson said. In particular, she pointed to laws President Joe Biden signed on preventing stillbirths and providing mental health services to rural veterans on which she was the lead Republican sponsor in the House.Recent polls have shown the race is more or less a dead heat, with several surveys showing each candidate with a lead within the margin of error. Iowa has been a reliably Republican state in recent years, with Trump having won it in all three of his bids for the presidency and the GOP controlling both Senate seats and all four U.S. House seats.But Trump’s low approval ratings have been an anchor on Republican candidates in Iowa, as they have been across the country. The president was about 1,000 miles south Wednesday night, campaigning in Texas as Hinson and Turek debated in Iowa, but he looms over virtually every contest approaching in the midterm election.The last time Democrats were won statewide federal races in Iowa was more than a decade ago, when Barack Obama carried the state in two presidential elections and when then-Sen. Tom Harkin was re-elected to a fifth term in 2008. The Senate seat is open because Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is honoring a self-imposed promise to serve only two terms.Part of the Iowa Press debates series, the one-on-one between Hinson and Turek was held at the local PBS studio in Johnston, about 10 miles north of Des Moines, and featured three journalists — from Iowa PBS, the Des Moines Register and The Gazette, a newspaper based in Cedar Rapids — asking questions.Hinson and Turek sparred over taxes, Social Security and immigration, among other issues.Hinson cited border crossings during Biden’s term as a reason Iowans should not trust Turek and Democrats on the issue, arguing that her rival supports “all the illegals.” Trump and Republicans, she said, deserve credit for clamping down on illegal immigration.“We have now sealed off the border, that just took about six months to get that done, and now we have zero crossings happening at our southern border,” she said. “So, who do you trust to fix the problem — the arsonists, the people who started the fire, or the people who are cleaning up the mess?”Turek affirmed that he would not vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security without significant changes to immigration-enforcement policies, including requiring the use of body cameras and revising use-of-force standards.“Yeah, that is my position,” he said. He added that he believes that no one wants to see “Americans shot in the street,” a reference to federal officers killing Renée Good and Alex Pretti during an immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.“What I am talking about is we can have safe and secure borders, and we need to have a pathway to earn citizenship for those that have come here legally,” Turek said.At several points, Turek accused Hinson of slashing Medicaid, Obamacare premium subsidies and food assistance funds in order to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Hinson responded that she was proud to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security checks, which were among the features of Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill” in 2025.Turek said he supports those provisions, but he also proposed eliminating the cap on Social Security taxes to keep the program solvent beyond the six-year timeframe when benefits are expected to be reduced if Congress does not act. That cap currently shields income above $184,500 per year from Social Security taxes.“I think that it is fundamentally wrong that you have every single teacher, and police officer and firefighter that is paying payroll tax and Social Security tax year-round,” Turek said. “Meanwhile, you’ve got folks like Elon Musk, and Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos that are paying just for the first few minutes of the year, the best way we can keep this solvent is by taking off the cap.”Hinson countered that lifting the cap would not fully fund Social Security payouts and argued that there should be a federal commission established to revamp the system and keep it solvent. Congress, which holds the actual authority to rewrite the Social Security law, would then vote on the commission’s plan.“This is a serious issue for our seniors, and it is a promise we need to keep to them,” she said, accusing Turek of “fear-mongering” on the issue.The candidates ducked and weaved a little on the last questions posed to them. Hinson was asked whether Congress is abdicating its authority by allowing Trump to build a White House ballroom and promise to send $5,000 checks to Americans if Republicans win the House and Senate.“Well, speaking as someone who serves on the Appropriations Committee right now, I care very deeply about Article I of the Constitution, which is making sure that we have the power of the purse,” she said, without addressing whether Trump’s seizure of that authority is proper.Turek declined to rule out voting to remove Trump from office if he is impeached by the House. “I have no interest in looking at impeachment,” he said in response to a question. “I think that we need to look forward, not back.”In a surprise twist at a time when many Democratic Senate candidates are distancing themselves rhetorically from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Hinson said she could team up with him if Democrats win the majority and she wins the Iowa Senate seat.“So, hopefully it’s not Chuck Schumer, but if it’s Chuck Schumer, I’ll work with him,” she said. “I got things across the line with [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi, [D-Calif.], as speaker, so I think that shows that I can work with anyone.”Earlier in the debate, she sought to undermine Turek’s boast that he is not taking money from corporate PACs by highlighting the Schumer-backed super PACs that have taken money from companies and spent heavily to help elect Turek.“He is basically taking laundered corporate PAC money,” she said, challenging Turek to call for ads on his behalf to be taken down. “If you don’t want to take that corporate PAC money, because that’s how it flows. It flows through people like Chuck Schumer, right to support you.”Turek declined to denounce the political action committees backing him.