Pete Buttigieg endorses Josh Turek’s U.S. Senate campaign

DES MOINES, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) - Iowa Rep. Josh Turek gained another high-profile endorsement Wednesday as former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg backed his campaign to become the U.S. Senate Democratic nominee.

Buttigieg, who won in the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses during his presidential campaign, released a video supporting Turek’s run for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat. In the video, Buttigieg said coming into the 2020 Democratic presidential race as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, his campaign was “able to make history” in Iowa “because we went everywhere, talked to everybody, and built a coalition of Democrats, independents, and what I like to call future former Republicans,” Buttigieg said.

“I see these same instincts and values in Josh’s campaign,” Buttigieg said. “So let’s make history again, in 2026, by electing Josh Turek to the United States Senate.”

Buttigieg’s support is one of several major politicians to back Turek’s campaign as early voting begins in Iowa’s primary races. Turek also received the endorsement Friday of former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the last Democrat to hold the seat Turek is now seeking.

In a statement, Harkin said as a Democrat who represented Iowans for 30 years in the U.S. Senate, “I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to win an election, and then to faithfully represent all Iowans, not just those who voted for you.”

“That’s why I’m supporting Josh Turek for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the Democratic primary on June 2,” Harkin said in a statement. “Josh Turek has the Iowa values, the Iowa work ethic, the Iowa ‘can do’ spirit, and has won election and re-election to the Iowa House of Representatives in a very challenging area for Democrats. There’s a saying that ‘rough weather makes good timber.’ Josh has had some pretty rough weather in his life, and he is ‘good timber.’ In fact, Josh is as strong and resilient as a good Iowa Bur Oak!”

Turek has pointed to Harkin as a major inspiration for his own political journey. The Council Bluffs Democrat was born with spina bifida, and went on to become a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and the first permanently disabled member of the Iowa Legislature.

Turek has regularly pointed to Harkin’s work as the chief sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, as one of the reasons why he has been able to achieve some of his own successes, and said in a statement, “I will continue Senator Harkin’s prairie populist vision, fighting for the working class, social and economic justice, small family farms, and the little guy.”

Buttigieg also referenced Harkin in his comments endorsing Turek, saying, “Iowa is on the map this cycle, and we have a real chance to win back Tom Harkin’s seat and take back the U.S. Senate” — and that Turek was the best candidate to make this shift.

Turek is running against Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, in the June 2 Democratic primary election. Wahls has been backed by Democrats like U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren — another of the 2020 Iowa Democratic presidential caucus alumni — who came to Iowa recently to rally support for Wahls’ Senate campaign.

Buttigieg, who served as U.S. secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration, cited Turek’s personal story and track record of winning in “tough races” as a state legislator who currently “represents the reddest district to be won by a Democrat in Iowa in 2024.” He said that makes Turek the strongest candidate to become Iowa’s U.S. Senate Democratic nominee.

“That’s the kind of resilience we need right now in our politics, because working families in Iowa are already feeling the consequences of Donald Trump’s agenda,” Buttigieg said. “From tariffs that raise costs, to cuts to Medicaid, to the billions being spent on priorities that do nothing to make Iowans safer, or to strengthen communities. Josh understands what is at stake, and I know that he will deliver for every Iowan.”

Turek thanked Buttigieg for his endorsement.

“I am deeply honored to have Pete’s support in this race. His unique ability to connect with Iowans who feel forgotten and left behind is exactly why he won the caucuses in 2020, and it’s that same approach that will help us win Senator Harkin’s seat back,” Turek said in a statement. “We are building a coalition that recognizes there is much more that connects us than divides us. That broad coalition of Iowans, fueled by a commonsense prairie populist agenda, will allow us to defeat Ashley Hinson and send a real fighter for working-class Iowans to the U.S. Senate.”

Turek and Wahls are set to debate at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, hosted by KCCI. The two candidates already faced off during an Iowa Press debate earlier in May.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will face the winner of the GOP primary between U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and former state Sen. Jim Carlin. Two-term Republican incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst is not seeking reelection.