Democratic Iowa Senate candidate says he split his ticket

Iowa Senate candidate state Rep. Josh Turek (D) said he voted for three Republicans when he cast his ballot Tuesday.

Asked whether he voted straight down the ballot for Democrats, Turek said he voted for Republicans Susan Miller for Pottawatamie County supervisor and Lea Voss for Pottawatamie County treasurer. The Democrat is locked in a tight race against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) for a battleground seat that could decide Senate control.

“Susan Miller I voted for, I think she does an excellent job on the county board for supervisors. Voss I voted for, I picked one other as well,” Turek said in a video posted by local news outlet KCRG-TV.

Turek has worked to strike a moderate tone as he runs to take over for outgoing Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the upper chamber. A former Paralympic basketball player, Turek is trying to be the first Iowa Democrat to win a Senate seat in nearly two decades.

While the Senate candidate split his ticket between some local Republicans and statewide Democrats, some believe ticket-splitting — voting for a Democrat for Senate and Republican for governor, for example — could be a potential outcome for Iowa’s elections this year.

According to an analysis of election outcome probabilities by Inside Elections , Iowa has a 35 percent chance of electing a senator and governor from different parties. According to Decision Desk HQ, Hinson is narrowly favored to win the Senate seat, while the governor’s race is leaning in favor of Rob Sand (D).