Josh Turek has made his rejection of corporate money a centerpiece of his campaign for Senate in Iowa — but the Democratic state lawmaker has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Democrat-aligned leadership PACs that are in large part funded by corporations.
Turek’s campaign has accepted upward of $222,000 from 32 different leadership PACs that are associated with various Democratic lawmakers and funded by corporations like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pfizer, and UnitedHealth Group, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
On his campaign website, Turek touts his independence from corporations: “Josh is not taking any corporate PAC money, because this campaign is for Iowa and Iowans, not corporations.”
In a social media video from November 2025, Turek said, “But we’re doing things in a grassroots way over here at team Turek. I’m not taking any corporate PAC money. I’m relying on grassroots donations from folks like you.”
Leadership PACs are established by federal officeholders or candidates to provide financial support to like-minded politicians, helping to build alliances and strengthen party loyalty. Groups throwing money behind Turek include the Blue Hen Federal PAC, sponsored by Senator Chris Coons (D., Del.) and the Victory Now PAC, sponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.).
Like most Democrats this cycle, Turek frequently attacks the health-care industry, pledging on his campaign website to “take on Big Pharma and pharmacy benefit managers to stop price gouging and ensure affordable prescription drugs for all.”
Yet Pfizer, for example, has given almost $700,000 to the leadership PACs that contribute to the Turek campaign.
When National Review asked the Turek campaign about accepting corporate PAC money through these Democrat-aligned fundraising machines, a campaign spokesperson criticized Turek’s opponent, Representative Ashley Hinson for accepting corporate donations directly.
“Ashley Hinson has taken millions of dollars directly from corporate PACs and even has her own super PAC named after her University of Southern California alma mater’s fight song running millions of dollars in TV ads to try and buy this election,” the campaign spokesperson told National Review. “Hinson is a corrupt D.C. politician who has voted seven times to continue this war in Iran and five times to continue chaotic tariffs — both of which are raising prices on Iowans. Unlike Hinson — who has not proposed a single measure to get money out of our elections — Josh Turek has been clear that our campaign finance system is broken and rigged to buy the election of millionaires like Hinson by billionaires.”
As the midterm election rapidly approaches, Turek’s fundraising has far outpaced Hinson’s, according to the campaigns’ third quarter financial reports. Turek has raised almost $14 million in the most recent quarter alone, compared to Hinson’s $3.3 million. Yet, much of this money was raised from outside Iowa, as Turek has been traveling to meet with out-of-state donors.
Turek even previously told the Des Moines Register while he is “not taking any corporate PAC money in this [and] . . . not taking AIPAC money,” he is “going to need a lot of help from a lot of people . . . people from outside of the state.”
In August, Turek traveled to Nantucket to attend a fundraiser sponsored by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (D., Va.) and VoteVets, a PAC that donated almost $10 million to Turek throughout the election. VoteVets has historically been linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), though a PAC spokesperson told Politico back in June that the group is not working with the senator, citing laws that bar candidate cooperation with super PACs.
This fundraiser took place August 17, the same day as the Iowa State Fair Veterans’ Day event, which Turek missed; he attended earlier days of the fair, but left town for the Nantucket fundraiser. Turek was born with spina bifida, a condition he’s attributed to his father’s exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. As a state representative, Turek served as the ranking member of the Iowa House Veterans Affairs Committee.
In total, Turek has raised more than $20 million, yet, less than $1 million in individual contributions came from donors within Iowa, according to FEC filings.
Similarly, when running for state level office, Turek relied on donors from outside his district.
“Turek4Iowa” received more than $517,000 from out-of-district and out-of-state donors during his runs for state house, according to a National Review analysis of the Iowa Ethics Campaign Disclosure Board database.
Earlier this year, Turek introduced three bills in the state House this year addressing campaign finance reform. None of the bills are currently active.
The three bills — HF 2409, HF 2430, and HF 2411 — covered various aspects of reform, including: prohibiting certain contributions from individuals ineligible to vote in the jurisdiction they reside in, capping individual contributions, and changing campaign finance report filing deadlines for certain candidates and committees. If passed, the bills would have restricted certain campaign contributions and changed campaign finance reporting requirements for candidates and committees in Iowa.
Turek is three points ahead of Hinson going into next month’s election, a Marist Poll survey from earlier this month revealed. The pair have been neck and neck throughout the race.