U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Iowa, has frequently targeted her opponent, Democratic Iowa State Rep. Josh Turek of Council Bluffs, in campaign materials and interviews over his high rate of absenteeism in the Iowa House during the 2026 legislative session.
“Josh Turek skipped 58% of the votes at the Statehouse this year,” Hinson asserted in a campaign advertisement released on Facebook on Sept. 2.
The two politicians are facing off for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat, which is being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst. Hinson currently represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District.
Records confirm that Turek indeed missed a significant portion of votes this past session. While political analysts point out that missing votes is typical for lawmakers who are actively campaigning, they also acknowledge that Turek’s absence rate is exceptionally high compared to his peers.
Examining Turek’s Absenteeism
An analysis by PolitiFact Iowa utilizing the Iowa House Journals revealed that out of 445 floor votes conducted between January 12 and April 2, Turek was absent for 261 of them, amounting to approximately 58%. These findings match reports previously published by KCRG and KTIV.
In a statement addressing the statistic, Hinson’s campaign argued, “The bottom line is that Josh Turek skips votes to support farmers, veterans, and rural communities but votes like a liberal when he does show up.”
Kedron Bardwell, a professor of political science at Simpson College, verified that the vote-tracking data is accurate. However, he clarified that the percentage strictly covers floor votes and excludes committee or subcommittee proceedings.
According to KTIV’s tracking, Turek recorded the second-highest number of absences in the entire Iowa House for 2026, trailing only Democratic Representative Jerome Amos Jr. of Waterloo.
While absences happen, Bardwell emphasized that the sheer volume of Turek’s missed votes is what makes his record stand out.
“Even going back a few years, there’s very few candidates that I can find that ran for higher office and missed as many [votes] as he did,” Bardwell noted.
He added that his research shows most representatives miss between 20% and 30% of votes at most—nearly half of Turek’s reported absence rate.
On the other hand, Jack Hunt, editor and publisher of the Iowa Legislative News Service with three decades of experience covering the Statehouse, views the missed votes as par for the course.
“Any legislator running for another office tends to miss days out at the Capitol,” Hunt said.
Hunt explained that in the Iowa legislature, bills generally do not reach the floor unless the majority party is certain they have the votes to pass them, noting he could not recall a single instance this session where the outcome of a bill hinged on a single vote. Consequently, he considers floor votes to be largely performative, minimizing the practical impact of Turek’s absence.
“When I see the ads, ‘Oh, [Turek] missed 58% of the votes,’ my honest thought is ‘So what?’ Hunt remarked. “It’s probably absolutely true, and it is utterly meaningless.”
Defending his legislative record, the Turek campaign told PolitiFact Iowa, “Josh Turek is one of Iowa’s most effective and bipartisan legislators, voting with Republicans more than 700 times to lower costs, cut taxes, and keep Iowans safe.”
Historical Voting Patterns
The high percentage of missed votes in 2026 is an outlier in Turek’s broader legislative career. As noted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch using Legiscan data, Turek maintained an overall attendance rate of 81% from the time he took office in January 2023 through prior sessions.
Out of 379 floor votes in the Iowa House in 2025, Turek missed just 37, or 9.8%.
His absence rates for 2024 and 2023 were 12.2% and 5.4%, respectively.
Conclusion
Ashley Hinson claimed that Josh Turek “skipped 58% of the votes at the Statehouse this year.”
State records confirm that out of the 445 House floor votes held during the legislative session running from January 12 to April 2, Turek was absent for 261, equating to roughly 58%.
While experts note that campaigning politicians frequently miss votes, they also verify that Turek’s absence rate is exceptionally high compared to other lawmakers.
The statement has been rated True.