Knoxville, Iowa (RI) — An Army and Marine Corps veteran who is the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce is launching a campaign for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2026 nomination for the US Senate.
Nathan Sage, a native of Mason City, did three tours of duty in the Iraq War. Sage says he’s running to fight for working-class Iowans.
Sage says Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who’s also a veteran, hasn’t done enough to push back against Veterans Administration cuts devised by Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Sage also faults Ernst for voting to confirm Pete Hegseth as US Defense Secretary.
Sage used his GI benefits to earn a journalism degree from Kansas State University and got a job as an overnight announcer at radio stations in Knoxville and Indianola, working his way up to station management.
He was hired to lead the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce in May of 2023. Sage says his work with small businesses and working Iowans prompted him to consider and now launch a campaign for the US Senate.
Sage’s dad was a factory worker, his mom was a day care teacher and his family lived in a trailer park in Mason City. Sage says his parents tried their best for their four children, but it was a hard life and he joined the Marines in 2003.
