Ashley Hinson launches false attack ad minutes after Turek’s primary win

Less than an hour after Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, his Republican opponent released an ad lying about his record.

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson posted the ad to X along with text claiming that Turek supports gender reassignment for minors, amnesty for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, and a “90% tax rate on hardworking Americans.” Turek has neither advocated for nor voted for any of these policies.

The ad itself, which features a menacing voiceover, says Turek “supports kids changing gender without parental consent.” The ad cites SF 496, a bill that passed the Iowa House and Senate in 2023 with only Republican votes and was later signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The law prohibits public schools from teaching lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity to elementary-aged students. It also requires schools to notify parents in certain circumstances involving a child’s gender identity preferences.

The law also bans books that allegedly depict sex acts from K–12 school libraries. The broad language of this provision has led to several literary classics being removed from shelves, including high school reading staples like The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Turek has consistently opposed book bans and publicly blasted the law, describing it as state censorship. Earlier this year, he criticized a similar bill that would threaten librarians with jail time if they helped students obtain banned texts.

“This is what we’re spending our time on?” Turek said at a legislative forum in March. “Trying to ban libraries and books and prevent kids from having access to books? I think it’s fundamentally wrong.”

Turek is far from alone. SF 496 has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and legal challenges. A federal judge struck down the law, but it was later reinstated by the U.S. Court of Appeals. While the law is currently in effect, ongoing litigation has given it an uncertain future.

Hinson’s claim that Turek’s opposition to the law amounts to supporting “kids changing gender without parental consent” is intellectually dishonest.

The U.S. Senate election in Iowa will be one of the most-watched races of 2026. The state has trended red in recent years, but Democrats are hopeful they can reverse that tide amid rising prices and record-low approval ratings for President Donald Trump.

Shortly after his primary win, Turek told Politico why the state may be more competitive than some think.

“In Trump’s last midterm, we won three of the four congressional races, [and] we were only three points away from winning all four,” Turek said. “This is a common-sense state, not a red state.”