Josh Turek acknowledged during the final Iowa Senate debate that he missed 261 Iowa House floor votes this year, a figure PolitiFact found equals about 58% of votes between Jan. 12 and April 2.
In the debate, Turek defended his record and told moderators he missed votes because he was campaigning across the state. “I’m out campaigning. I’m out meeting Iowans all over all 99 counties,” he said, according to reporting by The Hill.
PolitiFact reviewed Iowa House journals and reported that of 445 floor votes during the session, Turek missed 261, which is roughly 58% of the total; that analysis also noted the count only covers floor votes, not committee or subcommittee ballots.
The Hill’s debate coverage said Turek pushed back on attacks about his attendance by highlighting his campaign activity and saying he’s held hundreds of in-person town halls. The exchange came in the candidates’ second and final face-off ahead of the November election.
Context from PolitiFact showed Turek’s higher absence rate this session differs from his earlier record: the outlet reported an 81% attendance figure for his time in office overall and noted missed-vote rates in prior years were much lower.
Campaign coverage has tracked the dispute over voting records through the summer and fall, and Turek’s voting attendance has been a frequent line of attack from opponents while his campaign emphasizes retail outreach across Iowa’s 99 counties. For more on last week’s exchanges, see Turek sparred with Ashley Hinson and background polling at Josh Turek leads in new Iowa Senate polls.
What is clear from the reporting is twofold: the raw count of 261 missed floor votes is verifiable in the legislative record and the candidate’s explanation — that the absences were driven by campaign travel and town halls — was offered onstage and recorded by reporters.
Sources
- The Hill — reported Turek’s onstage defense, quote that he was “out campaigning” and noted he said he had held hundreds of town halls.
- PolitiFact — verified that Turek missed 261 of 445 House floor votes (about 58%) and provided prior-year attendance context.
