Obama endorses Josh Turek in Iowa Senate race with basketball video
Barack Obama backed Iowa Democrat Josh Turek for Senate in a basketball video as Democrats target Joni Ernst’s open seat.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Former President Barack Obama endorsed Josh Turek for U.S. Senate on Wednesday in a basketball video, the Associated Press reported, giving the Iowa Democrat high-profile help in a Republican-held race. The seat now held by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is one Democrats are targeting as they seek a path to a Senate majority, according to the AP.
Turek is running for the seat against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, the AP reported. The race is difficult terrain for Democrats: Trump carried Iowa by double digits in the last presidential election, and Iowa has not had a Democratic U.S. senator in more than a decade, according to the AP.
Who is Josh Turek?
Turek is an Iowa state representative and former U.S. Paralympian, the AP reported. He played wheelchair basketball for the United States in four Paralympic Games, a background that features prominently in Obama’s endorsement video.
In the video, Obama and Turek shoot baskets and play a game of I-O-W-A rather than horse, according to the AP. Obama says Turek beat him on the court, telling viewers he got “whooped.”
Why does the Iowa Senate race matter?
The Iowa race is one of the contests Democrats are eyeing as they try to win the Senate majority, the AP reported. Ernst’s retirement creates an open-seat race, but the state’s recent Republican lean makes it a hard target for the party.
Democrats still believe they have a chance in Iowa this cycle, according to the AP. Turek’s campaign is trying to flip a seat that has been in Republican hands, while Hinson enters the race with Trump’s endorsement.
What did Obama say about Iowa?
Obama ties the endorsement to his own history in the state. “I know a little something about winning Iowa,” he says in the video, a reference to his 2008 Iowa caucus victory, which helped propel him from a little-known Illinois senator toward the Democratic presidential nomination, the AP reported.
Obama also won Iowa in the 2008 and 2012 general elections, according to the AP. In the video, he says Iowa was his favorite experience in politics and describes “regular folks showing up” as part of what made it memorable.
The endorsement comes as Obama has begun backing candidates ahead of the midterm elections, the AP reported. In May, he appeared with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico at a taco shop in Texas, according to the AP.
Obama’s use of basketball in the endorsement fits a long-running public association with the sport. The AP reported that he had the White House tennis court altered so he could play basketball and had a professional-grade basketball court installed at his Presidential Center, where he met WNBA players, including Iowa native Caitlin Clark, last week.
The video closes with Obama turning the appeal directly to voters. “Now the ball’s in your court, Iowa,” he says. “Let’s make sure that we send Josh Turek to the United States Senate.”
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.