Josh Turek pedaled up a rolling hill flanked by Iowa cornfields that stretched over the horizon, tilting his chin at the sun beating down on his face.
Mr. Turek, a Democratic state legislator running for Senate who is wheelchair bound, gripped the hand cranks on his cycle.
He was here on a July Sunday, sweating alongside riders wearing corn hats and helmets, to participate in Iowa’s annual weeklong biking celebration that begins on the state’s western flank, a nearly 60-mile stretch near the Nebraska border that snakes through conservative towns and is dotted with roadside pie stands and food trucks.
The bike trek months before the November election reflected Mr. Turek’s steep task of winning over rural voters in Iowa, home to a large swath of the country’s agricultural community that has been deeply affected by soaring prices.
As he cycled through each town, Mr. Turek stopped to shake hands, sip beer and pitch voters on why they should send him to Washington. Some cyclists fawned over the Democrat, asking him for a photo or a “Josh Turek for Iowa” yard sign. Others did not appear to be sold.
In the tiny city of Soldier, Mr. Turek approached a man selling breakfast sandwiches and cold drinks.
“I’m Josh, and I am running for Senate,” Mr. Turek said, extending his hand before telling the vendor about his campaign.
The man smiled, shaking his hand and thanking Mr. Turek for stopping by. He did not say whether he would back him.
Mr. Turek, 47, was born with spina bifida and went on to become a Paralympic gold medalist. Last month, he won a competitive Democratic primary against an anti-establishment rival, after he made his physical disability and his resilience centerpieces of his campaign.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he said, sipping cold water about 30 miles into the bike trek, adding, “This will not be the hardest thing that I’ve gone through in my life.”
Now he is waging an uphill campaign against Representative Ashley Hinson, a Republican backed by President Trump, to succeed Joni Ernst, the retiring G.O.P. senator. The outcome will help decide which party controls the Senate.
So there Mr. Turek was in a handcycle on a blistering hot morning, arm-pedalling his way between Onawa and Harlan, 59 miles away.
“Do you see?” a woman said to a young girl pedaling along in Turin. “He is biking with his hands.”
The child pressed the brakes on her bright pink bike with matching streamers.
“No way,” she replied, pointing at Mr. Turek’s handcycle as he rolled on.
Mr. Turek has said that his condition, which occurs when the spine and spinal cord do not properly form, stemmed from his father’s exposure during the Vietnam War to Agent Orange, a toxic chemical defoliant that causes severe birth defects in millions of children.
A Council Bluffs, Iowa, native, he described going through 21 surgeries at a children’s hospital in Minnesota, spending weeks at a time away from his parents and four siblings while wearing a full-body cast.
He did not have friends until he turned 12 and began playing wheelchair basketball at an adaptive sports camp in Omaha, Neb., where he first learned about the Paralympics. Mr. Turek would go on to have a professional wheelchair basketball career and twice win the gold medal in the games as part of the U.S. team.
Iowa has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2014, after Tom Harkin retired, or one as governor in 20 years. Iowa’s House seats are all held by Republicans, and Mr. Trump decisively won the state in the past three presidential elections. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report gives Ms. Hinson an edge in the race, rating it “lean Republican.”
Democrats are still hopeful, despite their grim track record. Rising fuel and fertilizer costs caused by the war in Iran and Mr. Trump’s tariffs have crippled farmers and manufacturers in the state.
Mr. Turek’s race is one of many competitive elections in Iowa this year. Rob Sand, Iowa’s Democratic auditor, is polling ahead of Zach Lahn, a Republican, in the governor’s race. Republican Representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are also facing challenges from two Democrats with state legislative experience, in races that Cook rates as tossups.
Ms. Hinson, a former TV news anchor elected in 2020, handily won the G.O.P. primary following endorsements from Mr. Trump and other top Iowa Republicans. She has vowed to be the president’s “top ally” in the Senate, though she has also stressed her willingness to work with Democrats on cost-of-living issues.
In her district, Ms. Hinson was one of many Republicans who faced angry constituents last year at town halls. She was booed as she defended the sweeping reconciliation bill enacted last summer that extended tax cuts and slashed safety net programs.
In 2022, Mr. Turek was elected to represent part of Council Bluffs and Carter Lake, Iowa, winning his race by six votes. In 2024, he won re-election by 5 percentage points, despite Mr. Trump also winning the district by eight points. A self-proclaimed “common-sense prairie populist,” Mr. Turek has credited his political durability to a focus on economic policies.
“Populism is my political north star,” Mr. Turek said. “It’s always about what is best for the middle class, what is the best for workers — looking out for the have-nots.”
The July biking celebration, titled “The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa,” and colloquially known as R.A.G.B.R.A.I., did not have the political clout of the Iowa State Fair or community events at diners, though there was still plenty of opportunity for retail politicking. Bikers cheered Mr. Turek on as they whizzed by.
“Go, Josh, Go!” a couple shouted. Another man seated in a recumbent trike pedaled alongside Mr. Turek at one point, talking about, as the candidate put it, “the state and all the terrible things that are happening here.”
Mr. Turek has raised $6.3 million for his campaign, a fraction of Ms. Hinson’s haul of $10.2 million, according to campaign finance reports. His opponent also has about $6.7 million in the bank, compared to Mr. Turek’s nearly $2.4 million. The Senate Majority Political Action Committee, aligned with Democrats, has committed $30.5 million to the race, and the leading Senate Republican PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, has pledged $29 million.
The Republican PAC has been quick to attack Mr. Turek. In a news release last week, the group criticized him for failing to vote on a state agriculture spending bill in May despite urging members of Congress to pass the farm bill.
Mr. Turek said he was cleareyed about his odds of flipping the deep-red Iowa counties he was passing through on his cycling trip. Still, he was hoping that his time with voters could trim Ms. Hinson’s margins, and that he could persuade some lifelong Republicans to make a switch in November.
He said that a staunch Republican had approached him along the way and said that while Mr. Turek had an inspiring story, he would not get his vote.
“I said, ‘Well, we’ll see about that,’” Mr. Turek recounted. “‘You know, I’ve got 100 days to win you over.’”
He kept on pedaling.
Evan Reynolds contributed reporting.
