Former candidate Sage endorses Turek, criticizes Wahls in Iowa Democrats’ U.S. Senate primary

DES MOINES — Nathan Sage prided himself on being honest and authentic when speaking to potential voters on the campaign trail throughout last year.

When Sage, a Democratic candidate from Indianola, decided he was going to suspend his campaign in Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate election due to fundraising struggles and thought about whether he would endorse one of the remaining candidates in the Democratic primary, he looked for those same forthright qualities.

To hear Sage tell it, from conversations with both candidates, he found those qualities in state Rep. Josh Turek and did not in state Sen. Zach Wahls.

As a result, Sage has endorsed Turek’s campaign.

Sage made his endorsement official Monday afternoon and was scheduled to appear with Turek later at a Turek campaign event in Sage’s hometown of Mason City.

Turek and Sage spoke to The Gazette earlier Monday in an interview in Des Moines.

“I wanted to meet with Josh. I wanted to see him for the man he is. I wanted to see Zach for the man he was. And to be honest, it was actually easy,” Sage said. “Josh is a real person. We had a real conversation. … It was very easy to connect with Josh. It was very easy to understand Josh.

“On the flip side of it, Zach was the artificial person he is. It was very not real. He had his staff there. He didn’t give me the courtesy that Josh did where (their conversation was) man-to-man. … It was more of another transactional moment for Zach.”

Both state legislators, Turek from Council Bluffs and Wahls from Coralville, are seeking Iowa Democrats’ nomination in the state’s open-seat U.S. Senate election.

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst announced last year she would not seek re-election; Eastern Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is expected to earn her party’s nomination over fellow Republican and Sioux City lawyer Jim Carlin.

Prominent national political forecasters Sabato’s Crystal Ball, Cook Political Report and Inside Elections all project party victory in Iowa’s U.S. Senate election to be “likely Republican.”

Sage praises Turek, criticizes Wahls

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Sage, a former Knoxville Chamber of Commerce leader, sports radio director and U.S. Army and Marine Corp veteran, was the first Democrat to officially declare his candidacy for Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate election, last April. He announced the suspension of his campaign Sunday.

Throughout his campaign, Sage portrayed himself as a straightforward, unfiltered and self-deprecating speaker. During one of his first campaign events, in Cedar Rapids, Sage said that he was “pissed off” and ready to tell national political leaders “where to shove it, how to shove it.” At a campaign event last fall, he described himself as, “a tattooed, hairy, fat guy who says it how it is.”

In describing his conversations with the remaining Democratic primary candidates, Sage said he appreciated Turek’s willingness to give honest answers to Sage’s policy questions, even when Sage did not necessarily like the answer. Sage said he believes Iowa voters will feel the same way about Turek, and that he believes Turek — not Wahls — is capable of winning a statewide election in Iowa against Hinson.

For one of their recent meetings, Turek and Sage climbed the stairs to the top of the inside of the Iowa Capitol dome. Turek, a Paralympian who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, hand-walked his way up the roughly 130 winding steps, something he had never done before.

“Josh has been completely blunt with me. And he knows some of the answers he’s given me aren’t always the best and I haven’t been happy with all that. But at the end of the day, he’s been real with me. Zach has not,” Sage said.

“It feels like Zach, this is like another notch on his political belt for his career. He’s a career politician. He doesn’t seem very authentic and real with a lot of the people he’s around. And for me that doesn’t sit well with people that come from the working class and know the struggle. They want someone real.”

Wahls responds, supporter pushes back

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When asked about Sage’s comments, Wahls in a statement praised Sage and focused on his own campaign.

“Nathan ran a spirited campaign, and I respect his decision,” Wahls said. “Our campaign remains laser-focused on fighting for hardworking Iowa families, lowering costs, and taking on the corruption and failed Washington establishment politicians who have rigged the system against Iowans for far too long.”

Wahls’ campaign also supplied a comment from a leader of one of the many union groups that has endorsed Wahls in the primary. The statement from Jesse Case, secretary-treasurer and principle officer of Teamsters Local 238, addresses Sage’s comments about Wahls’ authenticity.

“Zach Wahls has been showing up for Iowa workers long before Nathan Sage or Josh Turek even got recruited to run by D.C. consultants and Chuck Schumer,” Case said in the statement, referring to the Democratic U.S. Senate minority leader. “Zach’s as real as it gets; he walks picket lines, he shows up to union halls, and he puts in the hard work. That’s why Zach Wahls is the overwhelming choice of labor and working people in this election, because Iowa families deserve a candidate who will always stand up for what's right and not cave to D.C. insiders and party bosses.”

Schumer has not officially endorsed a Democratic candidate in Iowa’s U.S. Senate election. Turek’s political competitors, both Republican and Democratic, have suggested that he is Schumer’s preferred choice in Iowa’s Democratic primary.

Sage’s campaign in fundraising emails often referred to his campaign against “Schumer’s handpicked candidate,” who the emails did not identify by name.

Turek praises Sage’s connections with voters

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Turek said he values Sage’s endorsement because of the way Sage conducted his campaign, and he hopes to deploy Sage on the campaign trail on his behalf.

“It matters enormously to me. I’ve been out there on the campaign trail with Nathan for the last six months, and he’s genuine, he’s authentic,” Turek said. “And being in rooms with him, he’s moving people in a real way. That’s what they need. There’s so many Iowans that are out there that are hurting and struggling and feeling like they don’t have a voice in the process. And Nathan has absolutely been that voice.”

Turek added later, “I was in rooms with him for six months, and I can tell you absolutely I saw people in tears. I saw people really, really connect with him, giving him hugs and saying, ‘I have never felt this way from someone that’s running for an office.’ … What I’m grateful for more than anything, is to now have his voice added on with mine.”

Turek and Sage said they believe voters respond to their respective personal stories and history with struggles: Sage growing up in a trailer park and losing both parents to cancer, and Turek living with disability. The two said they believe those stories resonate and create a connection with voters, who they say are looking for a candidate with whom they can identify and trust.

“It doesn’t matter what community we’re in, urban or rural. We hear that people are struggling. They’re worse off than they were. They’re struggling to keep food on the table, keep their bills paid, keep a roof above their head,” Turek said. “And they feel like they don’t have representation at any level of government.”

Iowa’s primary election is June 2 and the general election is Nov. 3.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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