Iowa Democratic Senate primary could shape Democrats' path to Senate majority

Democratic U.S. Senate Candidates Josh Turek (L) and Zach Wahls. Getty Images Iowa Democrats on Tuesday are voting in one of the party's most closely watched primary elections this election year in a key test of the party's strategy to take control of the Senate in this year's midterms. Voters will choose between front-runner state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls . Both are vying to become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Iowa since Tom Harkin , who was last elected in 2008. Whoever wins the primary will square off against Rep. Ashley Hinson , a Republican who represents the state's 2nd congressional district, to fill the seat Sen. Joni Ernst will vacate at the end of this year Hinson also has a primary challenger in Jim Carlin, though she is heavily favored to win. Whoever emerges will have the difficult task of winning in a state that President Donald Trump took by 13 percentage points in 2024, and where there are nearly 200,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats. Democrats, however, are bullish on picking up the seat as Trump's approval rating sinks amid the Iran war and the state's economy struggles. Farm bankruptcies are up across the state. T ax revenue is on the decline. And tariffs and the Iran war have hit soybean and other farmers hard . Meanwhile, Morning Consult in a poll released in May, found Trump has a -7 approval rating in Iowa, lower than in February before the Iran war began. …