At the buzzer
U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek visits The Flying Elbow as part of final pre-election push
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The Flying Elbow has quickly become one of the most popular restaurants in Marshalltown across the state with its award-winning hamburgers and pro wrestling themed menu, and on Friday afternoon, the owner of the 13th Street eatery, Garrett Goodman, hosted U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek (D-Council Bluffs) for a conversation focused on the challenges facing small businesses, health care and bridging the political divide in an increasingly polarized country.
Turek, a four-time U.S. paralympic basketball player and two-time gold medalist who currently serves in the Iowa House, is facing U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) in the 2026 general election to replace retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst. The stop in Marshalltown was part of his "At the Buzzer" tour across the state in the final days leading up to the election, and the candidate opted for a Jerry the King burger from the Elbow's "Franchise Killer" menu.
"I do think it's the best burger that I've had in Iowa, and the fries as well. You know, oftentimes, with places like In-N-Out, you'll get a really good burger, but then I don't love the fries. Both are really exceptional (here)," Turek said.
During a previous event at La Carreta Mexican Grill with gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, Goodman spoke about his concerns with the modern healthcare system and his desire to ensure that his employees get the coverage they need, and he said he liked Turek's proposals regarding capping what pharmaceutical companies can charge for medications.
Turek contended that President Donald Trump's tariffs and the surge in fuel prices due to the war in Iran have affected Iowa more than any other state, and he took Hinson to task for her repeated votes in favor of the war.
"This is all of the downstream effects of bad policy, and those tariff checks, they're not going to small businesses like (Garrett's). They're going to the big guys. They're going to the Walmarts, the Amazons," Turek said.
Seeing the downtown former hospital property in Marshalltown, Turek added, reminded him of the closure of facilities across the state over the last six years, and he additionally criticized Hinson for supporting the provisions in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" that will impact people on Medicaid and those receiving Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
Like Sand, Turek has branded himself as a moderate Democrat focused on economic issues instead of "culture war" debates.
"My campaign is laser focused on issues that apply to all 3.2 million Iowans -- a livable wage, affordable housing, affordable healthcare, affordable pharmaceuticals... Caps on things like insulin, making sure we're addressing the cancer crisis that we're having here in Iowa, drinkable water, functioning public schools, infrastructure and also addressing corruption because I think we're all recognizing that this is a naked level of corruption we've never seen in Iowa before," he said. "So ideas of, like, having campaign finance reform, term limits, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, mandating members of Congress to have in-person town halls. These are the things that I'm focused on -- populism."
In several of his television ads, Turek has pledged to work with the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on border security, and when asked how that message should be interpreted in a community like Marshalltown with such a large immigrant population, he felt a balance could be struck, noting his own personal connection to the issue.
"I've gone through this process. I married a woman that was born in the Dominican Republic. We met in Spain when I was playing (basketball) there, so I think we can have two things be true at the exact same time. We need to have safe and secure borders, and I am a border security Democrat. And also, we need to have a pathway to earn citizenship for people that have come here legally, and especially in communities like Marshalltown... The agriculture industry, the meatpacking plants, the direct care workers, there are all areas where we need to have immigration. And it's also the motto of the country -- E Pluribus Unum, out of many come one."
Finally, Turek discussed his hoops career and told the T-R he hadn't strapped into his basketball wheelchair since the 2021 gold medal game in Tokyo, but he did get the opportunity to film a campaign advertisement playing a game of Horse -- renamed "Iowa" for the occasion -- with former President Barack Obama.
"He's a really good shooter. I'll give him credit. He's a lefty like me, and I beat him," Turek said. "He missed his first two shots, and I gave him a letter. After that, I don't know if the guy has access to a court where he just goes elbow to elbow... He just went elbow, elbow, elbow, elbow, and he made, like 10 shots in a row. I was like 'Oh, God, I better lock in' because he was talking trash to me. He's super competitive."
The candidate joked that he would have never heard the end of it from his colleagues had he lost, but he doesn't get to shoot much anymore.
"This takes up every single moment of time that I have. I'm tired. I'm in pain, but I'm not as tired as working families. I'm not as tired as the mom and dad that are working two jobs just to keep food on the table. I'm not hurting bad as the veteran that's in homelessness or the guy that can't get healthcare, so I try to keep that in mind," he said. "I know who I am. I know why I"m doing this, and I know the people that I'm fighting for. And I'm fighting for the little guy, the people that can't afford to make a political donation or afford a political lobbyist because there's too many Iowans that are hurting, and they're hurting because of bad federal policy."
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.