Turek & Stevens [OC]

posted by u/leftycartoons · 2026-11-03 19:32 UTC

## Top comments

1. u/TheNewPoetLawyerette · 2026-11-03 20:26 UTC

We've confirmed that Turek voted for some downballot Republicans in his local elections.

This is the full reporting on the matter so far:

Josh Turek, Iowa’s Democratic Senate nominee, voted in his hometown of Council Bluffs on Tuesday morning. He said he didn’t vote a straight Democratic ticket, though, and instead supported some Republicans in local races. And he quoted Ronald Reagan in making a final pitch for change in a state that President Trump won by 13 points in 2024: “Ask yourself, are you doing better than you were four years ago?”

Turek was leading by a mere 3 points in the last poll. If he wins, he'd be the first Iowa Democrat elected to the Senate since 2008. Recently, his campaign has been under fire from both parties after running an ad stating that he does not support trans girls participating in women's sports in schools, and he opposes Medicaid funds being used to pay for trans healthcare. In the past, he has voted against a bill that would restrict trans kids from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, with the stated reason being that he worried it would pose barriers to disabled people and/or their aides using the bathroom. Democrats are disappointed in his catering to the Republican vote at the expense of trans rights, while Republicans are ridiculing him for trying to entice members of their party to vote for him.

Everyone, please do your civic duty and vote today if you're in the USA, and please don't spread misinformation about the elections. Thanks!

2. u/omniwombatius · 2026-11-03 19:50 UTC

Vote Blue No Matter Who only applies in the general elections. Vote for the progressive in the primary. Vote for not-fascist in the general. Ideally they are one and the same person, but they may not be.

3. u/FictionalTrope · 2026-11-03 20:15 UTC

Wanting to get rid of trans healthcare is fascist and you can't convince me otherwise.

4. u/HumongousBelly · 2026-11-03 20:42 UTC

It’s just one of the fascist aspects. They also have the white supremacy, the concentration camps for non whites operating at a profit, they got the deportations, they got preaching family values while marginalizing women and stripping children of any dignity once they’ve been expelled from the uterus.

Very fascist

5. u/NicoBango · 2026-11-03 20:24 UTC

Fascism doesnt necessarily indicate any preference toward gender/sexuality. We just so happen to have a Christian Nationalist-focused fascist regime in power right now and they're using their power to suppress opposition to their political and social belief systems.

To note, Trump is just a corrupt pedophile whose only belief is self-enrichment. Those who have funded him are the Christian Nationalists who use him to further their agenda

6. u/TheNewPoetLawyerette · 2026-11-03 20:47 UTC

Fascism always utilizes bigotry against marginalized groups of people to keep left-leaning & liberal voting blocs divided.

Here is an article about the present state of transphobia, and especially transmisogyny, as it is currently presenting in the modern postfascist and neoliberal spaces (as named by the authors of this study). The authors point to the history of fascist movements targeting trans people and how it echoes in the contemporary era: trans people were victims of the Holocaust, as we know, and current TERF rhetoric focuses on fearmongering about trans women infiltrating women's bathrooms, ostensibly to rape cis women, which dovetails nicely with an old fascist playbook targeting marginalized people by claiming they pose a threat to "vulnerable" (cis) women. One of fascism's tentants is a push for "traditional" gender roles, which both precludes queer identity from aligning with fascist goals and sets up women as potential victims as a propaganda tool.

7. u/Yasimear · 2026-11-03 20:54 UTC

Im so grateful that youve said all this. Thank you 💜

8. u/TheNewPoetLawyerette · 2026-11-03 22:06 UTC

Of course. I do what I can.

9. u/Bunerd · 2026-11-03 20:27 UTC

Stratified gender roles are one of the essential conditions of fascism. It's a patriarchy.

Like, it's not a coincidence that trans people represent an existential fear for them.

Anti-Trans is Pro-Fascism. You cannot have an anti-fascist anti-trans movement.

10. u/NicoBango · 2026-11-03 20:31 UTC

Patriarchy in its current iteration. If the power structures were flipped and we had a religious group in power that believed trans individuals were the apex of society, fascism could still exist. The oppressed would just be cis-folk

Edit: I know the above sounds pedantic, but as someone who advocates for trans-rights I want to be sure that we speak accurately and intelligently about structures that oppress us all. It's easy to commingle political and social issues, but its much harder to detangle them.

11. u/Bunerd · 2026-11-03 20:38 UTC

If the moon was made of cheese would we emphasize the "Moo?"

They hypothetical doesn't have a material basis or understanding of fascism. You've seemed to come to the idea that it's hierarchal in some capacity, but you don't understand how it happens in the real world and what heirarchies are enforced here.

Plus, what would we do to cis people to oppress them? Offer the same transition care we offer to everyone else? We come from any home and any origin, so it's more likely to prevent classiest stagnation than encourage it, plus, as a minority population we understand what's it's like to be seen as either gender and can more easily relate to them. Historically trans people served shaman roles, as finding solutions to dysphoria took esoteric turns. You'd worship us, get free universal healthcare and a worldview that empathizes with others.

12. u/NicoBango · 2026-11-03 20:45 UTC

Im not trying to attack what you're saying. Trans people are under attack by a fascist regime, but its because of religious and patriarchical motivations that are not a direct correlation to the political ideology of fascism. It feels important to make that distinction so we can maintain clear definitions of what the issues at hand are.

13. u/JenniviveRedd · 2026-11-03 21:15 UTC

Rigid gender essentialism DOES correlate directly to the political ideology of fascism. It's a core political tenet of the philosophy.

14. u/Present_Speech_7017 · 2026-11-03 20:46 UTC

as someone who advocates for trans-rights

Please advocate for us within the context of this world, not a world made of pudding.

15. u/Totally-Human-Red · 2026-11-03 20:38 UTC

Read this, fellow queer person.

16. u/Azair_Blaidd · 2026-11-03 21:55 UTC

It is something the Italian Fascists and German Nazis also did.

17. u/DBones90 · 2026-11-03 21:17 UTC

The problem is that people scream “Vote Blue No Matter Who” from the start. I’ve seen people defend Gavin Newsom for President that way, and we haven’t even had a Presidential primary yet.

18. u/omniwombatius · 2026-11-03 21:27 UTC

I feel like a lot of that is to discourage people from voting from third parties. Jill Stein is a genuine plant from Russia. She's been photographed with Putin and occasionally spouts Kremlin talking points. Lacking ranked choice voting, it will never be credible to vote for a third party for high profile races, and doing so will only help Republicans. To become credible, any third party needs to win municipal races, then county races, then state races, and then we can talk about third parties for president.

But yes, in Newsom's case he absolutely must win a primary first.

19. u/Maeglom · 2026-11-03 21:38 UTC

We need electoral reform, badly. My politics would lead me to support the green party or the DSA 10/10 times, but I have to vote for Democrats otherwise Republicans get voted in. It's really shitty that I need to vote for people I have no faith in pushing a platform I find profoundly underwhelming or fascists win.

20. u/fnordius · 2026-11-03 20:39 UTC

The thing is, where do you get the candidates for statewide races? It's those who run for city council, for school boards, that's where most representatives get experience. It's those local party chapters who decide who gets support during primaries and caucuses.

I know, you're supposed to vote the person, not the party, but we need to keep an eye on those downballot races as well, and not concede too early.

Otherwise you get candidates like Turek later on.