Ashley Hinson
Iowa Republican congresswoman; lost the 2026 US Senate race to Josh Turek.
Ashley Hinson lost Iowa's open Senate seat to Democrat Josh Turek on 3 November 2026, 46.34% to 50.45% on unofficial results, after a race that slid from Likely Republican in spring to Toss-up by September.
Last refreshed: 5 November 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Ashley Hinson hold Iowa's Senate seat as farm-input costs squeeze rural voters?
Timeline for Ashley Hinson
Turek beats Hinson as Sand wins Iowa
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: SLF's final $43.9m: 7 of 10 targets won
US Midterms 2026Received no NRSC party spending from 1 to 14 October
US Midterms 2026: Democratic groups file $67.97m in IowaReceived $5.54m of NRSC party spending
US Midterms 2026: DSCC lifts candidate spending to $21.05mMarist poll puts Turek ahead in Iowa
US Midterms 2026Background
Ashley Hinson is a Republican US Representative for Iowa's 2nd District, a seat she gave up to run for the Senate in 2026. She lost the open seat Joni Ernst vacated to Democrat Josh Turek on 3 November, 50.45% to 46.34%. Her House term runs until January 2027.
A former television journalist, Hinson served in the Iowa House from 2017 to 2021 before winning a seat in Congress in 2020. She won the June 2026 Republican Senate primary.
Her race became the clearest case of the Iran war's price shock reaching farm-state politics: Cook tied its June rating move to fuel and fertiliser costs, which hit Iowa farm households through natural-gas-based fertiliser and planting-season diesel. Her defeat was one of seven Republican-held Senate seats Democrats took in 2026.
Hinson's safe-looking race slipped away
Hinson's Senate bid began as a Republican hold. On 3 June 2026 Cook Political Report moved it from Likely to Lean Republican, with analyst Jessica Taylor naming the Iran war's fuel and fertiliser costs for Iowa farmers as the cause. On 22 September Sabato's Crystal Ball moved it to Toss-up, and a Marist Poll put Turek ahead 50-42, the first poll of the year to show him leading.
On 3 November Turek won 686,486 votes to Hinson's 630,615 on the Iowa Secretary of State's unofficial results, and NBC News and CBS News projected him the winner. Democrat Rob Sand won the governorship on the same ballot, and Democrat Lindsay James led in the 2nd District, The House seat Hinson gave up to run.
Republican money for Hinson thinned late
Hinson's party backed her in September, then stopped. The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent $5.54m with her that month and gave her nothing in early October.
Democratic groups filled the space. From 1 to 26 October they filed $67.97m in the Iowa race against $18.49m from Republican groups, led by Lower Costs Now with $17.21m for Turek. The Senate Leadership Fund kept attacking Turek, with $5.90m in The Week to 21 October and $7.65m in four days at the end of the campaign, but the gap on Hinson's side never closed.
Hinson faces a tighter race
Was Ashley Hinson a journalist before becoming a politician?
Who is Ashley Hinson and what is her political record?
Is Ashley Hinson still ahead in the Iowa Senate race?
Why is the Iowa Senate race between Ashley Hinson and Josh Turek rated Lean Republican?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 5 November 2026. Editorial standards.