Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduces National Intelligence Director nominee Tulsi Gabbard during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"The economy is rigged, and those in power don’t give a damn. They’re the ones doing it. Only 2% of Congress come from the working class. We built the damn table. It’s time we had a seat at it," Sage said in his first campaign video shared on X.
"I’m fighting for a Democratic Party that people like me will actually want to be a part of. People like my dad, myself, my kids, all the people like us," Sage said. "The DC elites, the ruling class, they don’t want me. But I think maybe you will."
Sage, whose father was a factory worker and mother was a daycare teacher, also took a swing at tech billionaire and President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency adviser Elon Musk using X, which Musk owns.
"We'll be up against all the money Elon Musk can throw at us. Please consider supporting this transformative campaign," Sage wrote, sharing a donation link for his campaign on ActBlue, the main fundraising platform for the Democratic Party.
Ernst, notably, is leading DOGE efforts in the Senate.
Sage's campaign video – which includes sprinkles of profanity – begins by categorizing Ernst as "scandal-ridden" and "corporate-funded." It also further highlights his working-class background and military service.
"I never thought someone like me could run for Senate," Sage said.
When he was five years old, Sage said, that his father was "arrested for a bounced check -- $50."
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks during a press conference following a luncheon with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol on May 2, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ernst, who is running for her third Senate term in 2026, retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of military service, but Sage claimed that the Republican senator has "kind of left the working class and left a lot of Iowans behind."
Cook Political Report – the leading nonpartisan handicapper – categorizes Ernst’s seat as "solid Republican" in the 2026 race. She faces several GOP primary challengers but is considered the front-runner.
Iowa hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2008, when Sen. Tom Harken secured another term. The Hawkeye State last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2012, when former President Barack Obama was re-elected.
Trump has won Iowa in every consecutive presidential contest since then. Marion County, where Sage is from, voted for Trump by a sweeping 38 points.
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"Marion County is a manufacturing county, and most of those people are trying to make ends meet every day of their life. They tried to figure out ways to put food on the table, and I feel like most of them just aren’t represented," Sage told The Hill. "They don’t have anybody that they feel like is very confident in casting their vote for. And I feel like, for me, I’m one of them, and I’m one of these people that’s just in the middle and that’s going to stand up for the whole of everybody."
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-republican-doge-leader-joni-ernst-faces-first-democratic-challenger-2026-race