In Iowa, one Democrat is running against more than just his primary opponent. State Sen. Zach Wahls is using his Senate bid to openly challenge Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, vowing not to back the New York Democrat for party leader and arguing that distance from Washington insiders will help win back Trump-country voters. "Chuck Schumer is a part of the status quo that has failed Iowans, and Iowans understand that," Wahls, who first made a splash in politics as a teenager defending same-sex marriage, tells Politico.
His rival in Tuesday's primary, state Rep. Josh Turek, is Schumer's preferred candidate and is pitching himself as a populist focused on health care, corruption, and water contamination—not intra-party warfare, per the Washington Post. VoteVets has poured nearly $10 million into boosting Turek, a former professional wheelchair basketball player who attributes his spina bifida to his father's exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, prompting Wahls to accuse Schumer of engineering the support—a claim both deny.
The Iowa primary is the first in several Senate contests that will test Democratic voters' appetite for candidates promising independence from party leadership. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is backing Wahls and two similarly aligned candidates in Michigan and Minnesota in an effort to "reset the Democratic agenda." While other Democrats warn that picking the wrong standard-bearer could cost the party in November, a recent Politico poll finds 47% of people who plan to vote blue in the midterms say someone other than Schumer should lead the caucus; 28% support him remaining in that role.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
