Hey John, it's Josh Turek checking in. I'm the Democrat in the race for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat, which could decide Senate control.

There's no denying this race is CRITICAL, so before I tell you a little about my background and how it brought me into this race, I'm personally asking you to consider splitting a donation between my campaign and Democracy Defense Action today. No donation is too small to have an impact, and we're close to hitting our first End-of-Month fundraising goal of this campaign.

Let's rewind the tape: I was born in ‘79 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and diagnosed with spina bifida caused by my dad's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

I had 21 surgeries before the age of 12. I grew up with the wrong color lunch ticket at school, wearing Goodwill hand-me-downs.

I come from a big, close-knit family. But even still, life as a small-town, working-class disabled kid in the ‘80s wasn't all peaches and cream. I was bullied so badly I had to leave public school in sixth grade. I was an isolated kid with a chip on his shoulder.

One summer, an adaptive sports camp across the river in Omaha introduced me to wheelchair basketball.

Suddenly, I had a purpose. I played throughout high school and college. I even went pro overseas for several years, where I met my wife, Jarolin.

I competed in four Paralympics and took home two gold medals and one bronze for Team USA.

After I retired from wheelchair basketball, I won my first election for Iowa State Rep by just 6 votes, in a solid-red Trump district no one thought I'd win. Fast forward to now and I'm proudly representing Council Bluffs and Carter Lake at the Iowa State Capitol.

But when Joni Ernst replied to a constituent worried about Medicaid cuts with the infamous line: “Well, we all are going to die”, I knew I had to get in the game.

Then, she voted to cut Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans and over 100,000 Iowans, and I was all in.

I'm in this Senate race to give Iowans a shot at building a life, a family, and a legacy they're proud of. I'll be a Senator they respect, who respects them in return.

That's the part we'll achieve in the U.S. Senate (Step 2). First, we need to get started on Step 1: defeating Joni Ernst in one of the most-watched, must-win races in the country.

John, every vote and every dollar counts to help us build out the team and ground game to win in Iowa. So please, don't sit on the sidelines. Will you split a $10 donation between my battleground Senate campaign and Democracy Defense Action to help us hit our End-of-Month goal before today's deadline?

I'm deeply grateful you're in this fight with me.

Together,
Josh Turek