Josh Turek Called ‘Full of S***’ by Older Women in Ashley Hinson Attack Ad - Newsweek

A profanity-filled ad by Representative Ashley Hinson, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, has taken aim at Democratic nominee Josh Turek, with a series of senior women saying that he is “full of s***” and “f*** him.”

The ad was released by Hinson on social media on Wednesday, along with the caption: “Josh Turek is full of it. Just watch.”

“Josh Turek says Ashley Hinson is getting rich trading stocks,” a woman in the ad said, before another added: “Well, f*** him.”

Another said: “I’ve been married 40 years, I know b******* when I hear it. Turek’s making s*** up.”

The race to replace retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst has emerged as a closely watched battleground, leaving Hinson and Turek locked in a toss-up contest in a state President Donald Trump won by 13 points in 2024.

The ad responds to Turek's attacks on Hinson's finances, including an allegation that she misled voters about her stock ownership. Turek's campaign has pointed to Hinson's financial disclosure showing her family holds between $1 million and $5 million in privately held stock in High Street Insurance Partners.

Hinson has staunchly denied the claim. Congressional financial disclosures show that she and her husband sold their publicly traded stocks shortly after she entered Congress and are not actively trading stocks. She has also distinguished those investments from her husband’s private holdings, saying in a debate in October that “private stock is not trading stock.”

In September, Hinson released an ad in which she said: “I don’t trade stocks, and no one else in Congress should either. That’s why I voted to ban it.”

Newsweek reached out to the Turek and Hinson teams via email for comment.

Hinson’s new ad quickly captured attention online, particularly with supporters of Turek. One account, @TeamTurekHQ, suggested that Hinson had used Floridian actresses in the ad.

“Ashley Hinson couldn't get any Iowans to appear in her new ad, so she hired a bunch of Florida actresses,” the account claimed.

Newsweek could not confirm if actresses were used in the ad.

Hinson’s ad comes a week after she criticized Vice President JD Vance over his response to criticism of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton.

Hinson said that the Ramaswamy ad was “ridiculous,” adding: “It’s absolutely the wrong tone.”

The Iowa contest is being eyed by both major parties, as Democrats view it as a rare opportunity in the agricultural heartland, aiming to capitalize on voter frustration over economic fallout from the Trump administration’s trade tariffs and rising domestic fuel prices.

But Iowa has voted Republican in Senate elections since 2014, meaning a loss for Hinson would be particularly surprising.

Turek and Hinson have signaled a willingness to break with their party in recent weeks. Turek separated himself from Democrats in an interview last week when asked if he thought the party had moved too far left.

“I don't think a lot about the party as a whole. I think about myself, and I think about Iowa,” he said, adding that the party has neglected rural communities.

Similarly, Hinson, who has been backed by Trump, has signaled a willingness to push back against the president in recent weeks, saying she would back him only if it served Iowans.

“I will be someone's ally when they're with me on the issues that are important to Iowa, and that's what I mean by that across the board. And if they're wrong, I'm going to pick a fight with them, no matter who that is," she told ABC News' The Week when asked about her previous pledge to be the president's biggest ally in the Senate.

Although Iowa has voted Republican in Senate elections since 2008, the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball call the race a toss-up. The state backed Trump in all three of his presidential bids after supporting President Barack Obama twice.

In a co/efficient poll this month, Hinson had 48 percent support compared to Turek's 45 percent. Two percent backed Libertarian Thomas Laehn and 6 percent were undecided. The poll surveyed 863 likely general election voters October 15-19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.32 percentage points.

A YouGov poll showed Turek with 47 percent compared to Hinson's 46 percent, while 2 percent said someone else and 4 percent were undecided. The poll surveyed 2,245 Iowa likely voters from October 6-12, 2026, and had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

Cook's recent polling, conducted by Democratic firm New River Strategies and Republican firm GS Strategy Group, interviewed 602 likely Iowa voters (plus 959 in Ohio and 934 in Texas) from October 9-13. Turek led Hinson 46 percent to 44 percent, with Laehn at 8 percent. Independents favored Turek 51 percent to Hinson's 27 percent, and 20 percent said Laehn. The margin of error for Iowa was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martynhere.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Dave Siminoff.