The first Democrat to declare a campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2026 is a first-time candidate who says he will work to repair the party’s relationship with working class voters.
Incumbent Republican Joni Ernst is running for a third term in the Senate. Nathan Sage of Indianola will compete for the Democratic nomination.
Sage is the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. He is a veteran who was deployed to Iraq three times while serving in the Marines and in the Army.
On Wednesday, Sage said he believes he can connect with voters who have felt left behind by the Democratic Party.
“I’m part of the working class. I want to make the working class, give them a seat at the table because they built the table, they should have a seat at it,” Sage said.
More Democrats are reportedly considering running for Ernst’s seat in the Senate. Ernst also faces multiple challengers in the Republican primary, including former state Senator Jim Carlin, of Sioux City.
*In other news, at a town hall in Iowa, U.S,Senator Chuck Grassley heard concerns from an overflow crowd of constituents frustrated with his response to actions taken by the Trump White House.
Inside the crowded city hall in Fort Madison in Lee County on Tuesday, Grassley took questions from audience members on tariffs, immigration, and veteran affairs.
He was interrupted by shouts and jeers, as people criticized the Trump administration’s economic policies and its deportation of a Maryland man due to an “administrative error.”
One audience member said the Trump administration's deportations violate the constitution and urged Grassley to do something about it.
“These people have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a foreign country with no due process! Our government cannot do anything? Why won’t you do your job, Senator?” the man said, as people applauded.
Grassley said decades of Democratic leadership are to blame for executive overreach.
