Summary
- 2026 Republican Senate candidate shares strong immigration views.
- Emphasizes strict policies on illegal immigrants in their state.
- The candidate aligns with the state's Republican-leaning, conservative voters.
- Immigration stance central to their campaign messaging strategy.
In an inflammatory video posted to his TikTok account, Iowa Democrat Nathan Sage, who is challenging incumbent Republican Joni Ernst, blasted a ruling that mandated 20 Iowa National Guard members assist ICE officers stationed in Iowa.
"Those 'not here legally' are 'everyday Americans literally trying to survive,'"
Sage said in his video.
"The only reason Iowa's population isn't declining is because immigrants are coming,"
the Democrat from Iowa added.
Earlier this month, Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds announced the National Guard's participation, saying that by "providing administrative and logistical support," it would "free up local ICE officials to continue their work outside the office to enforce the law and keep [the] state safe."
Ernst noted earlier this month that she supports Reynolds' move.
'They are not doing the law enforcement functions, but they're providing support to those agencies,' Ernst said.
"Our nation has laws for a reason, and we can't turn a blind eye to the essential role they play in keeping Iowans safe,"
Ernst said in a statement provided to the Daily Mail. Due to Biden's lax enforcement of the law, illegal immigrants and lethal fentanyl were able to flood our open borders and into Iowan communities.
"Thankful President Trump and Gov. Reynolds continue to lead the way in upholding the law to protect Americans,"
the senator continued.
Throughout his riff, Sage repeatedly mentioned the skin color of migrants, claiming that Reynolds and Ernst are only attempting to expel them from Iowa "because they're brown."
'Maybe they want all the brown people gone, and they want nothing but white people to fill their spots,'
Sage also said in his video.
Further defending the migrants in the Hawkeye State, Sage noted, 'these are our working class people, these are people in our families, these are people in our communities, and they are us.'
When Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, vanished while jogging and was later discovered murdered, the state's immigration issue reached a breaking point in 2018. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an undocumented farmworker, was the person who killed her.
Several X users pointed to Tibbetts' case as an illustration of how illegal migrants hurt Iowans.
As Emilia Henderson said in a post on X under the name @Emilia__writes, "Anyone who defends invaders has no business running for Senate, and breaking the law is not citizenship."
Sarah Root was another Iowan who fell prey to illegal immigration in 2016. Ernst spent almost ten years advocating for Sarah's Law, which President Donald Trump signed into law in May.
Republicans have recently made significant inroads in Iowa, a state known as a traditional swing state.
Three of the state's four congressional seats were occupied by Democrats following the 2018 midterm elections.
Before Trump's second victory in the state, Republicans made voter registration a primary focus in the 2020 presidential election and gained statewide support in addition to swing seats.
In 2020, when she ran alongside Donald Trump, Ernst received 51.74 percent of the vote and was last elected. Cook Political Report has rated the seat as 'Likely Republican.' She will be up next in the 2026 midterm elections.
How have local Republican leaders reacted to the candidate’s remark?
Local Republican figures have expressed support, viewing the candidate’s position as necessary to address immigration policy concerns and excite a party base focused on border security and the rule of law; others have been more cautious or not publicly expressed an opinion, and would like to avoid heightening a divisive issue that can alienate moderate voters or complicate outreach efforts to diverse communities.
Certainly, Republican leadership generally tries to walk the line between hardline positions on immigration with practical electoral considerations, and observances usually reflect that distinction.
There certainly have been previous statements where controversial comments on immigration policy prompted condemnation from some in the party and celebration from grassroots activists.