Turek's ad opposing trans women in women's sports draws fire from LGBTQ+ group and Hinson

Mixed · 2Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa and a state representative from Council Bluffs, released an ad on Sunday titled "Stop the Nonsense" in which he says he opposes males competing in female sports and is "against taxpayers paying for sex changes." 1 2 Mixed · 2In the ad, the Paralympian recalls being bullied as a child in a wheelchair, says no Iowan should face discrimination, and ends by calling for an end to "nonsense from both extremes" and a focus on lowering costs. 1 2 Mixed · 2One Iowa Action, a statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy group, posted a statement on Monday saying it "unequivocally" condemned the ad "and the policy shift it represents." 2 1

Centre · 1The group said Turek had assured it after an earlier post-primary statement on trans athletes that his personal views would not become policy and that he would not announce stances contradicting his legislative voting record; it called that "a lie." 2 Left · 1One Iowa Action's policy director, Keenan Crow, said the group singled out Turek because the ad calls for banning Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care, which he described as "a dramatic departure from what anybody else in the Democratic Party is saying right now." 1 Mixed · 2The group also said it does not support Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, calling her "no friend to LGBTQ+ Iowans," but argued that on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming surgery there is "no light between Hinson and Turek," making him "the most trans exclusionary federal Democrat on the ballot anywhere in the country." 1 2

Mixed · 2Iowa Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, a Democrat and the first transgender person elected to the Iowa Legislature, called the ad disappointing and said such talking points would not gain Turek anything with voters; Rep. Adam Zabner, another Democratic colleague, said Turek would keep fighting discrimination in Congress. 1 2 Left · 1Adam Peters, a Quad Cities LGBT+ center director and Democratic House nominee, said he disagrees with the ad but would still vote for Turek, citing his vote against removing gender identity from Iowa's civil rights protections. 1 Left · 1At a Monday rally in Coralville, Hinson said Turek was "lying about his record," pointing to his votes against a school bathroom restriction and a parental-consent law on gender-related accommodations; a Turek spokesperson said he opposed the bathroom bill because it puts disabled Iowans and their caregivers at risk of legal consequences. 1

Left · 1Turek has previously said he does not endorse taxpayer funds for these procedures and explained his 2025 vote against a health appropriations bill containing such a restriction as being about Medicaid waitlists and provider shortages; he also voted against Senate File 418, which removed gender identity from the state civil rights code. 1 Left · 1Other Iowa Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand and congressional candidates Sarah Trone Garriott, Lindsay James and Christina Bohannan, have also addressed trans issues in ads or statements; Raw Story, carrying Iowa Capital Dispatch reporting, says One Iowa Action has not condemned those. 1 Centre · 1The dispute comes about a week before the midterms in a race Newsweek calls among the tightest this cycle, after President Donald Trump, campaigning with Hinson in Iowa, accused Turek of backing school gender transitions without parental knowledge and "taxpayer-funded transgender mutilization surgeries." Newsweek said it asked Turek's campaign for comment on Tuesday. 2