Iowa Senate Race 2026: Hinson vs. Turek for Joni Ernst’s Open Seat

Status as of 9:45 a.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 1. Candidate names, deadlines and voting rules come from the Iowa Secretary of State and the Iowa Code. No votes have been counted.

The Iowa Senate race 2026 matches Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek for the seat Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has held since winning it in 2014. This guide covers the official candidate list, the voting rules for Tuesday, and how Iowa counts, reports and certifies its results.

What happened

Ernst decided not to seek re-election this year, NBC News reported. Her 2014 victory helped secure a Republican Senate majority for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s administration, the AP reported, and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is also retiring, which has opened up races up and down the ballot. Iowa was a competitive presidential state at the start of the century, but President Donald Trump carried it three times, most recently in 2024 by 13 points, according to the AP. It has been more than a decade since Iowans elected a Democrat as governor or U.S. senator, the AP reported.

Who is on the ballot

The Secretary of State’s 2026 general election candidate list names three candidates for United States Senator:

• Ashley Hinson, Republican, of Marion
• Josh Turek, Democrat, of Council Bluffs
• Thomas Laehn, Libertarian, of Jefferson

The towns are the mailing addresses listed on each candidate’s filing. Hinson filed on March 11, Turek on March 12 and Laehn on June 2, according to the list. Iowa voters on Tuesday are also choosing a governor, four members of the U.S. House, several statewide officers and state legislators, and are deciding a statewide ballot measure, the AP reported.

How the nominees got here

Both major-party nominees won their primaries on June 2. The Secretary of State’s official primary canvass shows Hinson received 153,059 votes to 53,196 for former state Sen. Jim Carlin in the Republican race. In the Democratic race, Turek received 120,287 votes to 71,663 for state Sen. Zach Wahls. The AP put those results at 74% for Hinson and about 63% for Turek. Hinson won the Republican primary with Trump’s endorsement, NBC News reported.

Hinson, 42, has represented her eastern Iowa congressional district in the U.S. House since 2021, according to NBC News. She won re-election to that 2nd District seat in 2024 with 57% of the vote, the AP reported, and her Senate run has left that House seat open this year. Turek, 47, is a state representative and a former Paralympic gold medalist in basketball, and he is backed by former Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, NBC News reported.

Latest development

Trump was scheduled to hold a rally in Dubuque on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to an event listing from his campaign committee. NBC News reported that the Iowa rally and a second one in Kansas had initially been canceled in favor of tele-rallies before being put back on the schedule. Trump also campaigned for Hinson and other Iowa Republicans at a rally in Sioux City on Oct. 22, according to the AP.

Money has been one of the biggest differences in the race. Turek has raised about $18 million since July 1, compared with about $3.9 million for Hinson, the AP reported. Hinson has been helped by outside groups, including $36 million in ad spending by a super PAC affiliated with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, according to the AP, which cited the ad tracking firm AdImpact. About 1.2 million votes were cast in Iowa’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, and about 30% of them were cast early in person or by mail, according to the AP.

What the polls show

Polls are snapshots, not forecasts, and LiveNewsWorld reports only surveys with published methods. An Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey found 47% of Iowa likely voters backing Hinson and 45% backing Turek, with 2% for Laehn and 7% undecided. The poll of 650 Iowa likely voters was conducted Oct. 5 to 6, 2026. Emerson contacted registered voters from a voter file by text message with a link to an online survey and added online panel interviews, and it weighted the results by gender, education, party registration and region. The credibility interval, which Emerson describes as similar to a margin of error, is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, according to Emerson’s published results.

The 2-point gap between the two major-party candidates is within that interval. In Emerson’s September survey, Hinson had 50% and Turek 45%, according to the same release. The October poll is almost four weeks old, and other surveys may differ. Our 2026 midterm election polls tracker explains how to read surveys like this one.

Why it matters

The 2026 midterms will decide control of Congress. Republicans are defending an open seat in a state Trump carried by 13 points two years ago, and a win by Turek could help Democrats gain a Senate majority for the rest of Trump’s second term, the AP reported. Iowa voters are also electing a new governor and choosing members in several competitive U.S. House districts, according to the AP. LiveNewsWorld does not publish predictions or win probabilities for this race.

What happens next

How to vote on Election Day

• Hours: Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 3, under Iowa Code section 49.73. That is 9 p.m. ET. Voters can look up their polling place on the Secretary of State’s website.
• Voter ID: Voters must show an Iowa driver’s license or non-operator ID, a U.S. passport, a U.S. military or veteran ID, a tribal ID or an Iowa Voter ID Card before they vote, according to the Secretary of State’s voter ID guidance. A voter without one of those IDs may prove identity and residence with Election Day registration documents. Otherwise the voter is offered a provisional ballot and can provide ID up until the county canvass.
• Election Day registration: Eligible residents can register and vote on Election Day at the correct polling place for their current address, but must prove who they are and where they live, according to the Secretary of State’s Election Day page. A photo ID must be current, valid and carry an expiration date. Besides an Iowa driver’s license, accepted IDs include an out-of-state driver’s license, an employer ID and a student ID from an Iowa high school or college.
• Proof of residence: If the photo ID does not show a current address, voters can use a document dated within 45 days that shows their name and current address, such as a lease, a utility bill including a cell phone bill, a bank statement, a paycheck, a government check or a property tax statement. A registered voter from the same precinct may attest for a voter who lacks those documents, and both must sign an oath. The Secretary of State says false attestation is a class D felony.
• Absentee ballots: The deadline to request a mailed ballot was 5 p.m. on Oct. 19. In-person absentee voting at county auditor’s offices is available through Monday, Nov. 2, and marked absentee ballots must be returned to the county auditor’s office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, according to the Secretary of State’s Sept. 15 voting announcement. Iowa Code section 53.17 says a ballot must be received before the polls close to be counted.

How results are reported

Iowa is entirely in the Central time zone, so all polls close at 9 p.m. ET. Our guide to poll closing times on Election Day 2026 lists the times for every state.

About nine of every 10 counties are expected to release all or almost all of their absentee results in their first updates of the night, the AP reported. In Polk, Scott and Black Hawk counties, the first reports are expected to include all vote types, while Linn, Johnson and Dallas counties are expected to release early in-person and mail results before Election Day results, according to the AP. In the 2024 election, the AP first reported Iowa results at 8:01 p.m. CT, the count reached the halfway mark at 9:33 p.m. CT, and the last update of the night came at 2:20 a.m. CT with about 99% of votes counted.

The AP does not make projections and declares a winner only when there is no scenario in which a trailing candidate could close the gap. For the national picture, see our guide to when 2026 midterm results will be known.

Certification and recounts

County boards of supervisors meet to canvass the vote the week after the election, under Iowa Code section 50.24. The Secretary of State must then present the statewide abstracts to the state board of canvassers no later than 27 days after the election, which this year is Monday, Nov. 30, under section 50.38.

Iowa has no automatic recount, the AP reported. Under Iowa Code section 50.48, a candidate for federal office may request a recount if the gap between that candidate and the apparent winner is less than 0.15% of the vote. The written request is due by 5 p.m. on the day after the county canvass, and the state commissioner of elections must order the recount to start within seven days of receiving it.

LiveNewsWorld will report Iowa returns as they are posted and will name the outlet behind any race call. No winner will be reported before one is declared by a named source.

Related live coverage

Follow every contested seat on our US Senate elections 2026 results page, find every guide in the US Midterm Elections 2026 hub, and get the latest Washington news on US Politics Live.

Sources

• Iowa Secretary of State: 2026 general election candidate list, 2026 primary election canvass summary, Election Day and voter ID pages, and Sept. 15, 2026, voting announcement
• Iowa Code (2026): sections 49.73 (polling hours), 53.17 (absentee returns), 50.24 and 50.38 (canvass) and 50.48 (recounts)
• The Associated Press: Iowa election-night guide (Oct. 30, 2026); NBC News primary coverage (June 2, 2026) and campaign live updates (Nov. 1, 2026)
• Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media: survey of Iowa likely voters, conducted Oct. 5 to 6, 2026. Sources last updated 9:45 a.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026.