This story was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of The 19th. Meet Mariel and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
Sarah Trone Garriott, an ordained Lutheran minister since 2008, was invited to lead prayer at the Iowa State Capitol by her then-state senator. She started coming to the statehouse, which was only 10 miles from her house, to advocate on issues she cared about, including public school funding, gun violence prevention and reproductive rights.
"I started paying attention to what was happening in that building, and I didn't like what I saw," Trone Garriott said. "And so I ended up running against him a few years later."
She ran as a Democrat and won that race, in 2020, then moved to flip another district blue two years later. In 2024, Garriott was reelected to a four-year term -- beating the Republican challenger by only 29 votes.
Though she eked out a victory, several Democratic colleagues lost their seats. Trone Garriott was worried about what was next for her state and country.
"I was looking for a way forward. How can I have hope in this moment? What can I do next? Because whenever I see a problem, my response is, how can I make things better?" Trone Garriott said.
For her, the answer was to run for Congress and try to flip the House. She's challenging Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, which President Donald Trump won by about four points in 2024.
While Black clergy members have held office as Democrats -- Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri are pastors -- it's been less common for White Democrats, and even less common for women. Trone Garriott is one of three Democratic women clergy members running for Congress this year to make more space for religion in their party as the GOP has embraced Christian nationalist talking points and policies.
Trump on Sunday night posted an image, likely created with artificial intelligence, that showed the president as a Jesus-like figure in a white and red robe with golden light radiating from his hand as he touched the forehead of a sick man. The backlash was immediate, including from prominent conservatives who called it blasphemous. In a rare move, Trump removed the post by Monday morning -- though he did not apologize, insisting he was depicted as a doctor, not Jesus Christ.
In his second term, Trump has tried to establish himself as a champion for Christianity, painting the Democratic Party as its enemy. In his first weeks in the Oval Office, he signed an executive order to create a task force eradicating "anti-Christian bias" within the federal government. And earlier this year, the president claimed that the Democratic Party was "against" religion at the National Prayer Breakfast and said, "I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat."
The "God Gap" -- the political divide as Republicans predominantly draw from religious voters and Democrats rely more on the religiously unaffiliated -- remains a defining feature of American politics. Still, this year an influx of Democrats with religious backgrounds are trying to appeal to moderates and mobilize turnout with their own religious backgrounds.
At least nine current and former Christian faith leaders, including state Rep. James Talarico in Texas, are running for Congress as Democrats, according to Vote Common Good, a progressive nonprofit that seeks to engage religious voters and tracks religious candidates.
Doug Pagitt, the organization's executive director and founder, said this is the highest number the group has recorded. Pagitt said it is quite common for faith leaders to run as Republicans and more common for Black clergy to run as Democrats -- but this year is seeing a "pretty unprecedented" number of White Democratic faith leaders as candidates.
Another Iowan, Lindsay James is aiming to flip a district. James is a Presbyterian chaplain who's running for the open 2nd Congressional District, which Trump won by about 10 points in 2024. In Tennessee, Anna Golladay, a former Methodist pastor, is mounting a long-shot bid to flip the bright red 3rd Congressional District, which Trump won by more than 35 points in 2024.
Anna Golladay, a former Methodist pastor in Tennessee, is running for Congress after federal immigration crackdowns pushed her to take action.
(Courtesy of Anna Golladay)
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Post Article Comment and Rate This Article
