Faith, Family, and a Fight for Iowa’s Future

A pastor, mom, and state senator brings moral clarity to the fight for clean water, climate action, and common sense in Iowa.

Sarah Trone-Garriott is running for Congress, not to score political points but to defend clean water, public schools, and the moral values too many politicians have abandoned.

Sarah Trone-Garriott doesn’t sound like a typical congressional candidate, and that’s because she isn’t. She’s a Lutheran pastor, a food pantry director, a mom of two, and a state senator. She’s spent her career showing up for people, whether in the pulpit, in the community, or at their front door. Now, she’s launching a campaign to represent Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District in Washington, D.C.

This isn’t a story about a political insider or a power player. It’s about someone who sees public service as a moral calling and who’s not afraid to speak the truth, even when it cuts against the grain of her state’s political leadership.

“We’re being told not to water our lawns in West Des Moines,” she told me. “Waterworks has been running nonstop for over 50 days trying to keep nitrate levels below federal limits and it’s still not clear the water is truly safe. That’s scary.”

To Sarah, these aren’t abstract policy debates. They’re personal. They’re about whether parents can trust what’s coming out of the tap. They’re about whether children can safely play in Iowa’s rivers and lakes. They’re about whether government is doing its job. And too often, the answer is no.

She’s tired of watching state leaders deflect responsibility or deny the problems altogether. “Some say we have the cleanest water in the country. That’s not true. Others blame our rich soil. But the reality is, we’re failing to take responsibility. And without acknowledging the problem, we’ll never fix it.”

It’s not just water. Sarah is deeply concerned about climate change, and especially the recent move by the federal government to eliminate the NOAA climate office. “I rely on those early warnings,” she said. “When a tornado’s coming, I need to know when to take my kids to the basement. These systems save lives. And now, they’re being dismantled without any consideration of what they do or who they protect.”

She speaks from experience, not just as a lawmaker, but as a mom. Her sons, Ian and Gus, are 13 and 15. Her husband teaches at Drake University. Their family moved to Iowa for the public schools and built a life around values that don’t fit neatly into partisan boxes.

That’s a thread that runs through Sarah’s entire campaign. She doesn’t lead with ideology. She leads with empathy. And that’s part of what makes her so effective in Republican-leaning districts. “People know me as someone who listens, who works hard, who shows up,” she said. “That’s how I win. That’s how I’ll keep winning.”

Her emphasis on creation care, the idea that faith calls us to protect the Earth, has helped her connect with conservative voters who may not respond to traditional climate language but care deeply about stewardship, clean air, and clean water. “Faith speaks to how we live together,” she explained. “And politics should, too. We don’t use more than we need. We care for the gifts we’ve been given. We protect the vulnerable.”

That message extends to agriculture, where she’s been outspoken about the need for reform. Not in a way that vilifies farmers, but in a way that asks for shared accountability. “People on Medicaid or SNAP are forced to jump through hoops for a little bit of help. Meanwhile, large farm operations get massive subsidies without having to meet basic standards. Shouldn’t we be asking them to protect our water, our soil, our communities?”

She believes the next version of the Farm Bill is an opportunity to help farmers implement conservation measures and shift to more sustainable practices. But she’s not seeing that leadership in Des Moines or in Congress. Instead, there’s resistance, denial, and a lot of dodging from the people with the most power to fix it.

Still, she remains optimistic. “Most farmers I talk to do care,” she said. “They care about the land. They care about clean water. They care about public lands and healthy habitat. They just want to be part of a system that supports them in doing the right thing.”

Sarah’s authenticity is perhaps her biggest strength. In the first 24 hours after announcing her congressional run, she raised $230,000, with the vast majority of donations coming from small-dollar donors in Iowa. That’s without PAC money, without major national backing, and while still juggling her work at the food pantry, her duties in the legislature, and her responsibilities as a parent and preacher.

“My donors are often people who don’t give to anyone,” she said. “They’re not political insiders. But they care about what I’m doing, and they want to be part of it.”

They’re right to believe in her. In a time when so many candidates campaign on outrage or optics, Sarah Trone-Garriott is campaigning on something far rarer: honesty. She shows up. She listens. She learns. She brings compassion to a system that too often rewards cruelty. And she fights not just for policy, but for people.

If you want to learn more about Sarah’s campaign, visit sarahforiowa.com.

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