Sarah Trone Garriott
A Call to Serve Iowa Families
Sarah Trone Garriott is a mother, a minister, a state senator, and a proven leader who has dedicated her life to answering a call to serve others. Her journey began with AmeriCorps, where she worked as a VISTA volunteer supporting survivors of domestic violence. After becoming an ordained Lutheran pastor, Sarah first worked in rural Virginia before moving to Iowa in 2013 to serve Faith Lutheran Church in Clive. She took her ministry beyond the pulpit to work as the coordinator of interfaith engagement for the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry Network, building partnerships across faith communities to address hunger and food insecurity. At every step, Sarah has shown up — listening, organizing, and leading with compassion and purpose.
An Advocate for Working Families
Frustrated that elected leaders weren’t listening to her community, Sarah ran for office in 2020 and flipped a Republican-held seat in the Iowa state Senate. When redistricting reshaped her district in 2022, she moved her family to take on then-Senate President Jake Chapman and won by three points. In 2024, she defended her seat again in a district won by Donald Trump, becoming the only Democrat in Iowa to flip multiple districts while representing Trump-won territory. Sarah knows firsthand how hard it is for families to make ends meet. She put herself through college by working at Walmart, cleaning hotel rooms, and waiting tables. Now, she is a working mom providing for her two kids. That’s why in the state senate she is a relentless advocate for working families, championing affordable and accessible health care, legislation to lower costs, strong public schools, paid family leave, quality child care, and reproductive rights. Known for her pragmatic leadership, she has united Iowans across party lines while never losing sight of who she serves.
Sarah decided to run for office after she asked her State Senator what a proposed abortion ban would do to a woman with an ectopic pregnancy. His lackluster response, “What’s that?” convinced her that she needed new representation, so she stepped up and ran for his seat and won. In Congress, Sarah will fight to restore nationwide protections for abortion access and safeguard the right to contraception, IVF, and prenatal care because these decisions belong to patients, families, and doctors—not politicians. As a former hospital chaplain, Sarah knows reproductive freedom is about people making deeply personal medical decisions, and she is running for Congress to ensure Iowans finally have a voice in Washington.
The Proven Leader to Flip IA-03
State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott is running for Iowa’s highly competitive 3rd Congressional District, a seat currently held by Trump-aligned Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. Nunn has consistently voted against the interests of Iowans—supporting the tariffs raising costs on families and destroying Iowa’s farm economy, as well as supporting the OBBB Act, which is already closing rural clinics in his district. Sarah has a proven track record of flipping Republican-held seats, and she is exactly the kind of leader Iowa needs to deliver real results and make the economy work for Iowans again. EMILYs List is proud to support her in this critical race and take back the U.S. House.