A national Democratic group is jumping into the party’s Senate primary in Iowa with a new television ad supporting Josh Turek, a state legislator and a former Paralympic gold medalist on the United States men’s wheelchair basketball team.
The organization, VoteVets, is spending $825,000 in the coming week to back Mr. Turek, who is widely seen as the favored candidate of the Senate Democratic leadership in a race that Democrats hope could be competitive in the fall. VoteVets is the first outside group to spend in the race.
The sum might seem relatively small in the age of multimillion-dollar ad buys. But Iowa is a relatively inexpensive state. And the one-week investment represents twice as much money as Mr. Turek’s own campaign had, just under $400,000, at the start of 2026.
It is also more money than Mr. Turek’s chief rival, Zach Wahls, an Iowa state senator, had in the bank — $733,480 — at the end of 2025.
The primary is scheduled for June 2.
VoteVets typically backs Democratic candidates who are military veterans. Mr. Turek did not serve, but he was born with spina bifida after his father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Mr. Turek has said he had to overcome 21 surgeries by the age of 12.
The ad provides that introduction, and more, to voters statewide. “Josh Turek’s been fighting his whole life,” the narrator says. The ad will air statewide on broadcast and cable, as well as on streaming platforms, the group said.
“VoteVets does not see it in any way, shape or form as a step outside of its core mission to be there for Josh in a very big way,” said Max Rose, a senior adviser to VoteVets. “There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that he has lived a life of extraordinary leadership and character, and his connection to his father’s service truly represents part of VoteVets’s mission to be there for service members, veterans and their families.”
Mr. Rose would not say how much more money the group would spend on the race but hinted that the ad buy was just a down payment. “When VoteVets gets into a race, it doesn’t do so in a symbolic way. It gets in to win it,” he said.
Iowa is not one of the four key states that Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has predicted will deliver Democrats a Senate majority this year. Those states are Alaska, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio.
But Iowa and Texas, where James Talarico won the party nomination earlier this month, have emerged as intriguing long shots if the political environment continues to deteriorate for Republicans.
Iowa has trended away from Democrats in the era of President Trump, who easily carried the state all three times he was on the ballot.
Mr. Wahls, 34, raised more money than Mr. Turek, 46, in the final quarter of 2025. Republicans have not so subtly been cheering for Mr. Wahls, including releasing a poll last month showing him ahead.
Two other candidates who initially entered the race, J.D. Scholten and Nathan Sage, both dropped out and endorsed Mr. Turek.
Mr. Wahls has been critical of Mr. Schumer and has said he would not support him as leader. He even called for him to step down as leader after last fall’s shutdown ended. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed Mr. Wahls last week.
Senator Joni Ernst, the Republican incumbent, has announced she will not seek re-election, and Republicans have mostly united behind Representative Ashley Hinson, 42, a former television anchor.
Shane Goldmacher is a Times national political correspondent.
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