Iowa's Josh Turek, who presents himself as a "common-sense moderate Democrat" running for Senate in a red state, voted to protect race-based diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in Iowa's universities and K-12 schools.
Turek, a former wheelchair basketball player who has served in the Iowa state house since 2023, voted against a trio of anti-DEI bills between April 2024 and May 2025, including two that became law. In April 2024, he opposed SF 2435, which prohibits public universities from hiring DEI officers. Less than a year later, in March 2025, he voted against HF 269, which would have prohibited public colleges and universities from requiring students to take any "diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory related course" to graduate. And in May 2025, Turek voted against HF 856, which barred state funding for DEI offices and initiatives at the college and K-12 levels.
The bills prompted Iowa's public universities to scale back race-based initiatives. The University of Northern Iowa amended its 2023-28 Strategic Plan to remove portions calling to "increase diversity" among faculty and students and increase graduation and retention rates among "traditionally marginalized students," which the school defined as "specifically American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic/Latinx, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander." The updated version called to increase those "success rates" among "all students."
The legislation also addressed equity trainings offered to Iowa's K-12 teachers.
The Iowa City School District's "Department of Equity," for example, trained teachers on topics like "Ethnomathematics: The Study of Math as a Cultural Activity," which called on participants to "examine mathematics teaching and learning through a cultural lens" and "approach the mathematics classroom as ethnographers, exploring the origins of our current practices and questioning the hierarchies they produce," according to public records obtained by the watchdog group Parents Defending Education. Another course, "Analyzing Systems of Behavior," called on teachers to "examine how you show up in your classrooms and what you need in order to challenge yourself in regards to bias and privilege." A third, titled "WE ARE EVERYWHERE: Paris is Burning," centered on "New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene" in the 1980s and explored "forgotten Herstory and ideas of intersectionality and discuss topics of Race, Sexuality, Class, and Gender discussion focusing on LGBTQIA+."
The district has since shuttered the department, and its former director of equity is now an HR director for Minneapolis Public Schools.
Turek's votes appear at odds with his "moderate" image. Turek describes himself as a "prairie populist" and "common-sense" lawmaker who can appeal to "Iowans of all political stripes." But two of Turek's votes defending DEI came after President Donald Trump placed opposition to such "woke" initiatives at the center of his campaign, which carried Iowa by 13 points.
Turek's "prairie populist" platform includes an education section lamenting that Iowa is no longer "nationally ranked for its public schools" and is now "middle of the pack." It calls to end Iowa's school choice voucher system, arguing that it "waste[s] taxpayer dollars." It does not take issue with the financial strain that DEI programs placed on Iowa's public schools. In West Des Moines, that included a two-year contract worth nearly $130,000 to implement a "Deep Equity" plan that included "school equity audits and focus groups to assess strategic equity and inclusion outcomes" and "School Board Awareness and Training" exploring "the Board's role in leading for equity."
A spokeswoman did not answer questions on Turek's DEI votes on the record. She said Turek "will work with anyone to get things done for Iowans, which is why he has repeatedly worked with Republicans to cut taxes for Iowa families and keep dangerous criminals off the street."
Turek will face Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson in November after defeating Iowa state senator Zach Wahls in a bruising Democratic primary. He faced criticism from Wahls for his ties to Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), who did not formally endorse Turek but contributed the maximum legal amount to his campaign through his leadership PAC. Turek also benefited from $10 million in primary spending from Democratic group VoteVets, which is tied to Schumer.
Turek is not the only red-state Democratic Senate nominee to embrace DEI in public schools. Texas's James Talarico worked for years as an "equitable education" consultant for a firm that develops DEI plans for public schools in Texas, the Washington Free Beacon reported.