Meet Nathan Sage, the first Democrat running against Joni Ernst

an interview

photo provided by Nathan Sage’s campaign

This original reporting first appeared at Bleeding Heartland and is shared here as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. For regular emails linking to all recent Bleeding Heartland articles and commentary, subscribe to the free Evening Heartland newsletter.

“The working class has been working their ass off every day to survive and make ends meet for their families,” Nathan Sage told me this week. Making working people’s lives better is the driving force of his U.S. Senate campaign.

At least four Democrats are thinking seriously about running against two-term Republican incumbent Joni Ernst. Sage was the first to make it official, on April 16.

Sage discussed his background, beliefs, and reasons for running in an interview with Bleeding Heartland the day before his campaign launch. The full video of our exchange is at the end of this post.

“EVERYTHING WAS ALWAYS HARDER”

Unlike many politicians, who come from privileged backgrounds, Sage was raised in a Mason City trailer park. His dad was a factory worker, often working double shifts to make ends meet. His mom was a day care teacher, because that was the only way the family could afford child care.

Growing up poor, “Everything was always harder,” Sage told me. Even in sports, he was competing against kids from well-off families who wore new cleats, while he had hand-me-downs. In his campaign launch video, Sage mentions that when he was 5 years old, his dad was arrested for bouncing a $50 check written while trying to buy school clothes for his children.

Sage had “no idea” what he was going to do after high school. He saw the military as his “only option”—as do many Americans from economically stressed families. His father had served in the Air Force, so when a Marine Corps recruiter came calling, he signed up for the delayed entry program. He went to boot camp in June 2003 and did two tours in Iraq as a mechanic.

Sage then worked as a mechanic in the civilian world for a while, eventually becoming head mechanic at Mills Fleet Farm in Mason City. But he missed working on military vehicles. Since the Marines weren’t taking prior enlisted at that time, he joined the Army and ended up doing a third tour in Iraq, starting in 2010—this time missing a year of his toddler daughter’s life while serving abroad.

After that tour, with eight years of military service under his belt, Sage had to decide whether to stay in for the long haul. He decided to follow a passion for sports, with a view toward a career in radio or television broadcasting.

For that, he had to go to college. The GI Bill opened the door. “I was never a really good student,” Sage told me. He didn’t apply himself in high school, but it was different now. He went to a community college for a while, then spent three years at Kansas State University, earning a degree in journalism and communications with a minor in leadership.

Sage held down a full-time job during that period, often working an overnight shift and then going to classes for most of the next day. As a student, he began working for a radio station in Manhattan, Kansas. He came to Knoxville, Iowa after graduating, holding various jobs at the radio station: overnight announcer, news director, sales, and marketing.

In sales, Sage worked with small business owners in the Knoxville and Indianola area, sometimes helping them on the side with videos or voice-overs. That led to his current job as executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, a position he has held since May 2023. He plans to continue in that role while running for Senate. He loves to help small business owners who are struggling: “I know more than anything how hard it is.”

A LEADER WHO “KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ME”

The central theme of Sage’s campaign is fighting for the working class. But it wasn’t always clear he would run for office as a Democrat.

Robert Leonard knows Sage well, having worked with him for years at the Knoxville radio station. Leonard wrote in a Substack post this week that in December, people who had worked for independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn in Nebraska approached him. They were looking for a blue-collar veteran to run against Ernst as an independent. Leonard thought of Sage, who was a registered independent at the time.

I asked the candidate why he decided to run for Senate as a Democrat, rather than as an independent. “I’ve always been more in the middle,” he said. He didn’t necessarily feel either party was for him. He sees many politicians on both sides “playing to the extremes” and believes many Iowans are “in the middle, looking for that representation.”

Sage added, “I’ve always veered more left, and I’ve always believed in the betterment of all.” Helping the working class is his biggest issue, and he wants to “be the politician that gets people to go back to the Democratic Party.” It’s exciting for him to be “a different Democrat and stand out in those different ways, because I think that’s what Iowa needs right now.”

Since he may be in a competitive primary against one or more state legislators—State Senator Zach Wahls and State Representatives J.D. Scholten and Josh Turek are all considering the Senate race—I asked why Democratic voters should take a chance on a guy who hasn’t held office before.

Sage sees himself as a different Democrat: “I’m going to stand up for you, and I’m going to fight for you in ways that nobody can, because I know what it’s like to be in your shoes.” He characterized other politicians as part of a “rinse and repeat” cycle, where the same people say the same things, and nothing changes for the working class.

He understands how hard it is to feed your family on $40 for two weeks. He’s done that, and he knows how hard it is to grow up that way. A lot of “rinse and repeat” politicians don’t have that experience.

As a working-class voter, Sage said he would rather have a leader “that knows what it’s like to be me,” rather than just talking to me.

In his campaign video, Sage put it this way: “I’m fighting for a Democratic Party that people like me will actually want to be a part of.”

WORKING CLASS PEOPLE “DESERVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE”

Iowa has shifted dramatically toward Republicans during the past decade, making huge gains among working-class voters. Donald Trump has carried Iowa three times, most recently by a 13-point margin. I wondered how Sage plans to appeal to voters who have supported Trump, since some of them would need to be part of a winning coalition for a statewide election.

“I think a lot of the Iowans that did support Trump or do support Trump did it because they want a lower cost of living,” Sage said. That was his promise: lowering prices for groceries, gas, and other products. But we haven’t seen that, and Sage doubts that will change under Trump. That’s just a promise he made.

“If you really want to better your life, if you really want to have a cost of living affordable for yourself and groceries affordable, you have to go in a different direction.”

Sage is open “to anybody and everybody,” regardless of party, because “I’m trying to work for the betterment of everybody.” He’s working hardest for the working class, “the people who made this country,” adding, “I believe they deserve a seat at the table because they built the table.”

His first campaign video echoes those points, noting that only 2 percent of Congress comes from the working class.

“SHE’S JUST A TOE-THE-LINE REPUBLICAN”

It’s hard to beat an incumbent. What would be Sage’s case against Joni Ernst?

He described the senator as “just a toe-the-line Republican” who votes along party lines, regardless of how she actually feels. “I don’t think she thinks that Pete Hegseth was qualified for the position he’s in, but she followed the line, toed the line because she didn’t want to be primaried,” Sage said.

He also mentioned that Ernst hasn’t stood up against the Trump administration’s cuts to the Veterans Administration, even though she’s a veteran herself. Fighting for veterans is important to him.

Finally, Sage characterized Ernst as a corporate-backed politician. His campaign won’t accept corporate PAC contributions, and he supports getting corporate money out of politics to give the working class “a better opportunity to succeed.”

Sage’s campaign video shows a photo of Ernst above the words “THE DC ELITES.” The candidate’s closing line is a promise “to kick corporate Republican Joni Ernst’s ass next November.”

“I WANT TO HELP NOW”

We don’t often see first-time candidates running for U.S. Senate, so I asked why Sage decided on this race, instead of running for state legislature, county supervisor, or some other office first.

“I think this is the best opportunity to help Iowans,” he said. Thinking about the biggest challenges working-class people face as they seek better wages, benefits, and health care, holding federal office offers “a better opportunity to help them now.”

“I’m not trying to help people ten years from now. I’m not trying to help people 20 years from now. I want to help now,” Sage went on. “The working class has been working their ass off every day to survive and make ends meet for their families.” He sees more opportunities to help working people and limit corporate power from the U.S. Senate.

A FAN OF PETE BUTTIGIEG AND TOM HARKIN

In the military and local broadcasting, people typically aren’t at liberty to express their political opinions. So I was curious to know whether Sage was always interested in politics and who he considers his political heroes.

He mentioned a recent conversation with staff sergeant he served with in Iraq. When he heard what Sage is up to, he commented, “You never talked about that stuff.” Sage said he always been passionate about some things but has never pushed his beliefs on other people.

As for recent political figures who have stood out to him, “I’m a big fan of Pete Buttigieg,” because he’s very “quick-witted” in how he talks, and Democrats “need people that are not afraid to respond” and stand up.

Sage also recalled meeting Iowa’s longtime U.S. Senator Tom Harkin as a young child; his father “was a big supporter.” But in general, Sage said, he has never viewed politicians as heroes; just people who are supposed to represent their constituents.

“MORE FIGHTING IS NEEDED”

One of the biggest current divides in Democratic circles revolves around how Democrats in Congress should approach the Trump administration. So I wanted to know: did Sage agree with the small group of Senate Democrats who went along with keeping the federal government funded in March? The other option was to vote down the continuing spending resolution, which would have forced a government shutdown.

Sage recalled how obstructionist Republicans in Congress were under President Joe Biden. “I think that more fighting is needed,” he said, including using the process to delay what’s happening. Democrats should be “doing what they can more often, as opposed to just sitting back and allowing things to happen. Because that’s how it looks,” like Democrats are just “laying down.”

“Standing up and voicing your opinion and doing what you can, all that you can to actually fight back is what I think they should do.”

Before we wrapped the interview, I asked the candidate whether there was anything I didn’t ask that would be important for my readers to know about him. “I’m a very blunt, honest person. Like, I’ve just always been that way. I believe that honesty sets you free,” Sage said. If anyone asks him a question, he’s glad to have the conversation and will “tell you exactly how I feel.”

To learn more about Nathan Sage and follow his campaign: website, Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram

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Laura Belin’s full interview with Nathan Sage, recorded in Des Moines on April 15: