A progressive veterans group is airing a new ad in support of Josh Turek in Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, taking the organization’s spending on the race to more than $2.5 million.
VoteVets, a PAC that helps elect Democratic veterans, began airing its first ad for Turek on March 24 and has spent $1.6 million so far.
The group is spending an additional $1 million to air the new ad for a week beginning April 8, bringing its total spending on Turek’s behalf to $2.65 million.
So far, VoteVets is the only outside group airing ads in Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Turek, a state representative from Council Bluffs, is competing with Zach Wahls, a state senator from Coralville.
Turek is not a military veteran but was born with spina bifida, which he says is from his father’s exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.
The ad is narrated by Teresa Coon, a doctor and Air Force veteran from Grinnell who worked as a doctor for the Air Force and later in Iowa.
“Here’s my diagnosis: Our health care system is broken,” Coon says in the ad. “Josh Turek gets it. Born with spina bifida, Josh Turek has been fighting his whole life. Josh will take on the insurance companies. He’ll ban them from denying doctor-prescribed care and reverse Donald Trump’s disastrous cuts to Medicaid.”
The ad shows pictures of Turek as a kid before cutting to video of him rolling his wheelchair uphill and speaking at campaign events.
“America needs to do something about health care,” Coon says. “That’s why Iowa needs Josh Turek.”
In a statement, VoteVets Senior Adviser Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton called Turek “a fighter who knows firsthand the costs military families experience when our sons and daughters are sent to war.”
“Our nation needs senators like Josh who will fight for veterans and military families like his — and who know how to win, which Josh does,” Eaton said.
The new ad is running statewide on broadcast, cable and satellite TV as well as on social media, YouTube and digital audio platforms.
Wahls has called for overturning Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the door to greater spending from super PACs.
The proposal is included in the policy platform Wahls released on April 7 which he calls “The Iowans Over Insiders Agenda.”
“I will fight to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore Congress’s authority to limit campaign spending by corporations, outside groups, and the ultra-wealthy,” Wahls says in the proposal. “This won’t happen overnight, but it is the only permanent fix, and I will be a lead champion for it in the Senate.”
Iowa’s primary election is June 2. The Democratic nominee will face the winner of a Republican primary between former state Sen. Jim Carlin and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.
Hinson is heavily favored to win the Republican primary and the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that elects Republicans to the U.S. Senate, has pledged to spend $29 million on her behalf beginning this summer.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: VoteVets airs new ad supporting Josh Turek, taking spending over $2.5M
Reporting by Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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