Amid DSCC Pressure, Democratic Populist J.D. Scholten Exits Iowa Senate Race

Democrat J.D. Scholten, a two-term Iowa state House representative and former candidate for Iowa’s fourth congressional district, announced Monday that he intends to withdraw from the Iowa Senate primary, ending his race only a few months after launching his campaign. 

The withdrawal announcement follows a push from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, to recruit and clear the field for fellow state House member Josh Turek, whom Scholten plans to officially endorse at a rally Monday night. 

Turek’s recent entrance and Scholten’s sudden withdrawal indicates the DSCC, an organ of the Democratic Party establishment, is taking a more active role in key primaries this year as the party mounts a longshot bid to retake the upper chamber.

Two sources close to Scholten’s campaign, who requested anonymity to protect their livelihoods in Democratic politics, told The Intercept last week he has faced increasing pressure in recent weeks to end his bid and back Turek, who announced his candidacy earlier in August. Scholten discussed the race with DSCC officials in early August before Turek announced his bid, according to one of the sources.

In an interview with The Intercept last week, Scholten directly denied plans to drop out and endorse Turek. He also denied receiving pressure from national Democrats to end his candidacy. In a follow-up phone call Sunday night, Scholten changed his tune. 

“This wasn’t true last week, but I am dropping out, and I am endorsing Turek,” he told The Intercept. 

“It’s not because of pressure from the DSCC, though,” he added unprompted.

It is unclear why the DSCC maneuvered to back Turek over Scholten. Both have strong electoral records, and Scholten has already been vetted by a high-profile national race. (The DSCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

“The DSCC’s corporate donors won’t let them support the candidate who can win.”

In a statement, Turek’s campaign burnished his own populist bonafides and touted his friendship with Scholten.

“He is a prairie populist who first ran for office to fight back against the privatization of Medicaid in Iowa and will reject corporate PAC money in this campaign,” said Brendan Koch, Turek’s campaign manager. “Josh and J.D. are longtime friends, and Josh is proud to have the support of a fellow champion for working families.”

Scholten has in the past spurned national Democrats, rejecting help in the general election from the House Democrats’ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in his failed 2020 House bid after receiving a small amount of support in 2018. He did not say whether he would have accepted the national party’s support in the Senate primary election.

The Senate party committee, helmed by New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, has already drawn criticism this cycle for taking a more aggressive approach than usual in clearing the primary fields in key states on behalf of candidates seen as friendly to corporate interests. Among Schloten’s allies, the consternation was palpable.

“We have a candidate with name recognition with a track record of connecting with rural Iowa voters on one of the most important, unifying messages there is: corporate power is destroying America,” Max Miller, a former Federal Trade Commission official and friend of Scholten’s, told The Intercept. “And yet, the DSCC’s corporate donors won’t let them support the candidate who can win.”

Overperforming Challenger

Scholten rose to national prominence in 2018 during an unexpectedly strong challenge to Republican former Rep. Steven King, who faced several controversies over his ties to white nationalists.

Though King ultimately won, his narrow margin led House Republicans to back another candidate, Randy Feenstra, the following cycle in a rematch against Scholten. Scholten overperformed a second time in 2020 but still fell short in the race, laying the groundwork for his election to the Iowa state House in 2022. 

In 2024, he comfortably held his Sioux City-based seat even as Kamala Harris lost the district in her presidential bid. During each of his campaigns, Scholten has embraced a populist, anti-establishment message that emphasizes taking on corporate interests. 

Scholten’s endorsement provides a substantial boost to Turek, whom several sources in Iowa politics confirmed was recruited to run by the DSCC. 

Turek is also starting his second term in the Iowa state House after winning a seat that voted for Donald Trump last year. Those sources say Turek’s electoral performance and biography made national Democrats hopeful he could turn incumbent Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s recent Medicaid cut gaffes — she mocked concerns people would die by saying, “We all are going to die” — into a defining issue of the race. (Turek was born with spina bifida and has championed Medicaid coverage during his brief tenure in the Iowa legislature.) 

Turek’s broader views, and especially his views on corporate interests and the national party’s establishment class, remain vague. 

Scholten told The Intercept his decision to endorse Turek stems from the friendly relationship the two have formed while serving together in the state House. Scholten also acknowledged that Turek’s views on the issues the former has championed are unclear, but expressed a desire to push him to take a more populist approach, especially on corporate power in the state’s crucial agriculture sector.

Despite Scholten’s sudden exit from the race, Turek still faces a field with several high-profile Democratic primary challengers. Iowa state Sen. Zach Wahls, who gained national attention for his advocacy for gay rights in the early 2010s, announced his candidacy in June. Des Moines School Board chair and former chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama Jackie Norris joined the field in early August. 

And, while Scholten’s exit provides a critical boost to Turek, it also potentially leaves the populist lane in the primary open to Nathan Sage, a first-time candidate from Indianola who announced his run in April of last year.

Sage’s biography and aggressively anti-corporate and anti-establishment campaign platform echoes the formula Dan Osborn used last cycle in neighboring Nebraska, where he overperformed Kamala Harris by more than any other candidate across the country in his challenge to Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. Osborn, however, like Scholten, ended up ultimately losing the race.

Update: August 18, 2025, 2:32 p.m. ET
This post has been updated to include a statement from Josh Turek’s campaign received after publication.

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