Elizabeth Warren to campaign as VoteVets poll lifts Josh Turek
Elizabeth Warren is set to campaign in Iowa as state Sen. Zach Wahls confronts a new VoteVets poll that shows state Rep. Josh Turek leading 48% to 28%. The race has become a test of Democratic anger at party leadership, with Wahls tying his bid to a call for new leadership in Washington and to Senator Chuck Schumer.
Zach Wahls and Schumer
Wahls said in an interview, "I do not think we are going to win in November if we can not be honest about the need for new leadership for our party in Washington, D.C." He added, "And that starts with Senator Schumer." Wahls has repeatedly said the party should move on from Schumer’s leadership, putting the Senate minority leader at the center of a primary fight that has moved beyond Iowa.
Other progressive Senate candidates have echoed that view. Juliana Stratton and Mallory McMorrow have said they would not back Schumer as leader, and McMorrow wrote on social media on Thursday, "I’m the only candidate in this race who hasn’t danced around this. I said we need new leadership in the U.S. Senate, and I mean it,"
VoteVets Spending in Iowa
VoteVets has spent $5 million in support of Turek, giving the race an outside-money edge Wahls has tried to answer. A VoteVets poll released on Tuesday showed Turek at 48% and Wahls at 28%, a shift from March, when Wahls trailed by nine points. Schumer has not officially endorsed Turek, even as the contest sharpens around who Democrats want leading them into November.
VoteVets said it will not have to reveal its donors until after the June 2 primary. That leaves the scale of the group’s support in place through the final stretch, while Iowa Democrats weigh a race that could determine which candidate advances and whether the party can build another path toward Senate control.
June 2 Iowa Primary
The primary is set for June 2, with Wahls still trying to close a 20-point gap from the new poll while carrying the argument that the party needs a break from Schumer. Turek’s advantage now rests on the combination of outside spending and the latest vote share, while Warren’s appearance adds a national signal to a contest already being watched far beyond Iowa.
