Democrats Get an Unconventional Candidate in the Race Against Joni Ernst

A political newcomer is declining to back Schumer as Democratic leader, saying he would need to get to know the New York senator before supporting him.

Joni Ernst

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Nathan Sage is a Marine veteran who says he grew up in a trailer park and skipped the three most recent contested Democratic presidential caucuses in Iowa despite being a native of the state.

He’s also now a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in the Republican state.

Sage, a 40-year-old executive director of a local Chamber of Commerce in Iowa, launched a bid Wednesday for a seat held by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, saying he’d be the kind of working-class candidate that Democrats have failed to run in recent years but desperately need to connect with blue-collar voters.