Nathan Sage, the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and a Democratic candidate, is running for the Senate in Iowa next year to challenge Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
In an interview with The Hill before to his announcement and at his campaign launch, Sage stressed the need of fighting for the working class, which includes pushing for higher pay and health care. Sage formally made that announcement on Wednesday.
“I come from a very poor background. I grew up in a trailer park, and I watched my family struggle for a very long time. My dad was a factory worker, my mom was a daycare teacher,” Sage stated.
“I feel like a lot of the people in the working class have been fighting this whole time to survive and instead of thrive, and I think it’s time we fought to thrive,” he stated.
After the November election last year, Sage, a veteran of the Marine Corps who has also worked in local news, said he felt compelled to run.
After the November election, his wife was worried about their future health care coverage if they tried again because she had miscarried earlier that year.
“That got me to the point where we shouldn’t be as a working class – as people in general – we shouldn’t be living like that…,” Sage stated.
Ernst, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, has the support of millionaires and companies, according to Sage, who also said that “she’s kind of left the working class and left a lot of Iowans behind.”
Sage is the first Democrat to enter the campaign, but he will have a difficult time defeating Ernst, who is running for a third term in the upper house.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was reelected in 2008, the last time Iowans voted for a Democrat in the Senate. It reelected then-President Obama in 2012, the last time it cast a ballot for a Democrat.
Ever since, President Trump has won Iowa by a landslide of 38 points, including in Marion County, where Knoxville is located.
Ernst has also won close games in the past. In 2020, she won the election against Democrat Theresa Greenfield, whom the independent election handicapper Cook Political Report formerly declared a “toss up.”
Her seat this cycle is rated as “solid Republican” by Cook Political Report. Ernst is predicted to win the Republican primary with ease, despite having a number of GOP opponents in her race.
Sage says he believes he can connect with Iowans, especially those in his own county, despite the high odds.
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“Marion County is a manufacturing county, and most of those people are trying to make ends meet every day of their life. They tried to figure out ways to put food on the table, and I feel like most of them just aren’t represented,” Sage stated.
“They don’t have anybody that they feel like is very confident in casting their vote for. And I feel like, for me, I’m one of them, and I’m one of these people that’s just in the middle and that’s going to stand up for the whole of everybody.”
