Iowa Dem Senate candidate says he's too busy campaigning to attend all state House votes
- State Rep. Josh Turek missed 261 of 450 votes (58%) in Iowa's House this year — but he's got a rock-solid alibi: he was 'meeting Iowans' in all 99 counties.
- Facing a moderator's repeated 'why?' Turek's answer was essentially 'I was busy campaigning' — a strategy that would get you fired from literally any other job.
- Ashley Hinson fired back with a 98.8% lifetime voting record and 47 in-person town halls, while noting Turek's attendance would get him 'fired' from a minimum-wage gig.
- Turek's counter-punch — Hinson missed 193 votes — backfired when her campaign revealed those were spread over her entire congressional career, not one session.
- Putting the 'care' in 'cancer research'? Hinson made sure to remind voters you have to actually show up to vote for pediatric cancer funding — unlike her opponent.
- Turek claims 'hundreds of public forums' while simultaneously calling out Hinson for not doing one — a classic 'look over there!' deflection from a guy who's missing two of every five days on the job.
- Hinson's camp clarified she's held 47 in-person and 30 phone town halls total, and has been present for all final passage votes on Appropriations Committee bills since 2021.
Brief Summary
In the most Iowa-tragic debate moment since 'corn sweat,' Democratic State Rep. Josh Turek tried to defend skipping 58% of state House votes this year by claiming he was out 'campaigning' and meeting Iowans. Because nothing says 'I care about your cancer rates' like dodging the actual vote on pediatric cancer research. The moderator had to ask him three times why he missed the votes, and his answer essentially boiled down to 'I was busy being a candidate, not a legislator.' Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who's running for the open Senate seat, wasn't buying it, citing her 98.8% attendance and 47 in-person town halls. Turek's desperate counter — Hinson missed 193 votes — got obliterated when her campaign noted those were over her entire congressional tenure, not just one session. The takeaway? If you don't show up to work two out of five days, you get fired. Unless you're a Democrat in a statewide race, apparently.
Why This Matters
Here's the punchline for every Iowan voter: you're being asked to promote someone to the U.S. Senate who couldn't be bothered to show up for 58% of his current job's votes. That's not a campaign schedule — that's dereliction of duty with a 'running for office' excuse attached. Turek's 'I met with Iowans in all 99 counties' is the political equivalent of 'my dog ate my homework,' only the dog is a Senate campaign and the homework is pediatric cancer funding. If this is how he treats his day job, imagine what he'd do with a national platform — probably skip votes to attend more 'town halls' in your living room. For voters, this is a stark choice: a guy who treats his legislative duties as optional, or a career politician with a 98.8% attendance record. The question isn't who's more charismatic; it's who will actually be in the chamber when your community's funding is on the line. And if Turek thinks 'I was out campaigning' is a valid excuse for missing votes, he's got another thing coming — likely a primary challenger or a serious case of voter rage in November.