Josh Turek, a Paralympic gold medalist and state legislator, won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Iowa on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, defeating a progressive rival to capture the nomination in a contest that tested the party’s anti-establishment fervor.
Mr. Turek beat Zach Wahls, another state legislator, who rose to national attention in 2011 with a three-minute speech he made as a teenager at the Iowa Capitol defending his lesbian parents.
Running as a self-described “prairie populist,” Mr. Turek, 47, cast himself as a “battle-tested” candidate who could win the support of independents and Republicans in a state President Trump won three times.
“I outperformed the top of the ticket by Trump by 50 percent, more than any other Democrat in the state,” Mr. Turek said at a debate last month. “I know what it takes to win.”
He will face Representative Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman who represents the northwest corner of the state. The Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC for Senate Republicans, has already committed at least $29 million to backing her campaign, an early signal that the contest could be more competitive this year than in recent elections.
Democrats feel increasingly optimistic about their chances in Iowa, where Republicans control the entire congressional delegation, the governor’s mansion and both chambers of the state legislature.
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