Rural Hospitals Are Closing and Iowa's Had Enough

While Washington burns, there are people out there actually doing the unglamorous work of winning elections — and this week Rick Wilson brings you two of them.

First up: Josh Turek, running for Senate in Iowa, where tariffs have gutted family farms, rural hospitals keep going dark, and corporate consolidation has squeezed working families until there's nothing left. Turek's pitch is what he calls a "prairie populist" agenda — lower costs, real support for family farms, healthcare people can actually reach, and a hard shove back against the corporate money that's been running the table. It's the kind of message that used to win the Midwest, and might again.

Then Rick heads to Colorado for Manny Rutinel, currently in the state House and gunning for CO-8 — one of the most competitive districts in the entire country and the most Latino district in the state. The incumbent, Gabe Evans, has voted with Trump an estimated 97% of the time, which is less a voting record than a signature stamp. Rutinel's betting that a working-class background and a genuine grassroots operation beat a rubber stamp with a war chest. Two races, two very different maps, one shared question: can Democrats stop talking past the people they need and start winning them back? These are the fights that decide whether the next Congress is a check on the chaos or a co-signer.

•

•

•

•

•

Josh Turek is a candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa

Manny Rutinel is a Colorado State Representative and candidate for Congress in CO8

Rick Wilson is @THERICKWILSON on socials and on Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.

More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln.

#JoshTurek #MannyRutinel #Iowa #Colorado #CO8 #Midterms2026 #RickWilson #LincolnProject #Democrats #Politics #PoliticalPodcast #Podcast