Rep. Ashley Hinson pressed Democrat Senate rival Josh Turek to return taxpayer per diem after he skipped most Iowa House votes this year, and she made his attendance the center of their debate.
Hinson used their U.S. Senate debate to hammer Turek’s Iowa House record, saying he missed work at a rate no private employer would tolerate and still collected the full lawmaker per diem. She told him to give the money back.
The exchange framed the race in plain terms for Iowa voters: who shows up, who collects the check, and whose votes match the state’s interests.
Hinson, a Republican congresswoman running statewide, said Turek failed to appear for 58 percent of his votes this year on measures that matter to farmers, rural hospitals, and manufacturers. She cast that record as disqualifying.
"I think it’s really important to note that my opponent decided not to show up for work 58 percent of the time this year on policies that could have helped to support Iowans and Iowa farmers, including the Iowa Farm Bill, [chose] to not show up to vote for that bill,"
Hinson said during the debate.
She put the attendance math in workplace language voters understand. Forty-two percent, she argued, is not a job performance that earns a promotion.
"He was one of the most [absent], and he was one of the most [liberal] when he did show up to vote. It’s very clear. Forty-two percent of the time, if that’s all you’re showing up to vote, you’re not getting a promotion. You’re getting fired,"
Hinson said. "That’s two out of every five days of work. I think every single Iowan knows if you’re only showing up that much, you’re not getting to stay at work."
Turek raised accessibility and pushed a rule that would force members of Congress to hold at least one in-person town hall each year. He tied the idea to Hinson’s Senate run and claimed she had not held one in person while campaigning.
Hinson answered with her own tally. She said she held 47 town halls in Congress and remains open to constituents across the state.
"I did 47 town halls during my time in Congress, so you all at this table have covered many of them and understand clearly that I am a transparent and accessible representative,"
she said.
Then she flipped the attack to pay and presence. Hinson noted that members of Congress can claim a daily per diem only for days they are in session, money that can cover a hotel or apartment. Iowa lawmakers have a similar program, she said.
Her charge was direct: Turek missed work and still took the full per diem.
"So I think it’s important to note that my opponent, who did not show up to work, still took the full per diem here in Iowa, the same program that exists for lawmakers here,"
Hinson said. "So you took the per diem; you stole from taxpayers. You should refund that money."
That demand is the heart of the dispute. Taxpayers fund the stipend for days lawmakers are supposed to be on the job. Hinson’s argument is that collecting it while skipping most votes is not a paperwork quibble, it is a breach of basic public trust.
Attendance was only half the case Hinson built. She also walked through the policy fights she said Turek missed or got wrong when he did vote.
She said she is in Washington pushing a farm bill and safety-net policies Iowa growers need, and that she has worked across the aisle on year-round E15 fuel rules. She tied a Working Families Tax Cut Bill vote to a steel mill project she said brings 1,700 jobs at $49 an hour and strengthens both agriculture and domestic manufacturing.
"I’m showing up in Washington, DC, to make sure we’re advocating for priorities like the Farm Bill, getting that across the finish line to help support our farmers with the safety and security nets that they need," Hinson said. She added that she is traveling all 99 counties and pressing fertilizer policy that covers duties, tariffs, and domestic production.
On rural care, she said Turek did not show up for a vote tied to deploying $50 billion nationally, including more than $200 million from a Rural Health Transformation Fund for Iowa. She described those dollars as already moving into small communities.
Just last week, she said, she held a town hall in Protivin. Howard County officials told her they are using the rural health money to recruit a nurse midwife and a physician assistant.
"So those dollars are actually deployed and are making sure Iowans can access health care," Hinson said. "So you talk about actually being there to show up to support rural health care. I worked to make sure that funding was there to make sure our rural hospitals and our rural entities could stay open."
She also said every Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee voted no on farm bill priorities she supports, and that Turek “did not show up to vote for the Iowa Farm Bill this year to stand up for Iowa farmers.”
Hinson’s critique did not stop at empty seats. She said the votes Turek cast leaned against Iowa’s mainstream on taxes and benefits.
She accused him of backing policies that steered taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants and of supporting steps that make it easier for politicians to raise taxes, pointing to a constitutional amendment headed to the Iowa ballot.
"You look at his record. He supported policies when he did show up to help [support] illegal immigrants in this country, letting taxpayer dollars go to benefits for illegals," Hinson said. "He voted to make it easier for politicians to raise your taxes here in Iowa.... So when he is showing up to vote, it’s wrong for Iowa. He’s too liberal for this state."
On Medicaid, she defended work requirements aimed at people gaming the system and at keeping illegal immigrants off the rolls. She said Turek wants to undo the entire Working Families Tax Cut Bill on day one, which she argued would put those removed recipients back on the program.
"He supports taxpayer benefits going to illegal immigrants," she said.
Turek, described in the debate coverage as an Obama-endorsed Democratic Senate nominee, centered his contrast on mandated in-person town halls. The debate record provided does not include a detailed quoted defense from him on the per diem refund demand or the 58 percent absence figure.
After the debate, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann cast the night as a clean choice between delivery and rhetoric.
"Ashley Hinson is a proven leader who shows up, delivers results, and fights every day for Iowa families, farmers, and small businesses,"
Kaufmann said. "Josh Turek skipped 58 percent of his votes, and when he did show up, he voted like an East Coast liberal. His solution to everything is raising taxes and higher costs for Iowans."
"This race is about showing up versus skipping out, and results versus rhetoric. Tonight, Iowans saw exactly who deserves a promotion, and that’s Ashley Hinson," he added.
Senate Leadership Fund Communications Director Chris Gustafson struck a similar note, saying the surprise was that Turek appeared at the debate at all given his voting record, and that Hinson won the night and showed she is prepared to be Iowa’s next senator.
Iowa voters hire people to cast votes on farm policy, rural hospitals, taxes, and border-related benefits. A nominee who misses most of those roll calls while keeping the full per diem is asking for a promotion on a record most workers would not survive, and Hinson was right to tell him to return the money.
