Democratic contender Nathan Sage, who's the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, is launching a Senate bid to take on Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) next year in Iowa.
Sage made that announcement official on Wednesday; in his campaign launch and an interview with The Hill ahead of his announcement, Sage emphasized fighting for the working class, including advocating for better health care and better pay.
"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 told The Hill.
"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 said.
Sage, a Marine Corps veteran who's also worked in local news, said he felt compelled to run last year after the November election. His wife had suffered a miscarriage earlier that year, and his wife was concerned after the November election about their health care coverage moving forward if they tried again.
"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 said.
Sage characterized Ernst, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, as being backed by corporations and billionaires, adding that "she's kind of left the working class and left a lot of Iowans behind."
Sage is the first Democrat to throw his hat into the race, though he faces a steep climb to taking on Ernst, who's vying for a third term in the upper chamber. The last time Iowa voted for a Democrat in the Senate was in 2008 when Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won reelection. The last time it voted for a Democratic president was in 2012 when it reelected then-President Obama.
Since then, President Trump has won Iowa each time, including in Marion County – where Knoxville resides – by a sweeping 38 points.
Ernst, too, has prevailed in tight matchups before. She defeated Democrat Theresa Greenfield in 2020 – a race that the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report at one point rated a "toss up."
Cook Political Report rates her seat this cycle as "solid Republican." Ernst has several GOP challengers in her primary, but she's expected to easily prevail in the Republican contest.
Despite the long odds, Sage says he thinks he can resonate with Iowans, particularly those in his own county.
"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 said.
"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."
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