With Republicans defending a 53-seat Senate majority, Majority Leader John Thune joined Iowa GOP nominee and Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in Sioux City on Friday as polls showed a close race.
Marist’s Oct. 8-11 survey of 1,100 registered Iowa voters put Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek at 48% and Hinson at 45% among likely voters. Marist reported a 6.6-percentage-point margin of error for that group. A later co/efficient poll of 863 likely general-election voters gave Hinson 48% and Turek 45%; Libertarian candidate Thomas Laehn received 2%, while 6% were undecided. The poll’s margin of error was 3.32 percentage points. Both candidates’ leads fell within their respective polls’ margins of error.
The Senate’s party count lists 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two members of other parties. CBS News quoted Thune describing Iowa as central to the majority fight: “The majority in the United States Senate must run through the state of Iowa.” The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump campaigned with Hinson in Sioux City on Thursday. EconoTimes previously covered Trump’s Sioux City rally and farm-aid pitch.
KTIV reported that Thune addressed the Siouxland Initiative’s annual luncheon before he and Hinson visited the 185th Air Refueling Wing. Hinson said nearly $40 million for a project at the wing had advanced through the House appropriations process, and that she hoped the Senate would approve the funding. KTIV said the proposed runway and ramp work is intended to let the wing’s refueling aircraft take off with full fuel loads.
The seat is open after Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said in 2025 that she would not seek another term. Iowa’s candidate list names Hinson, Turek and Laehn for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
