At the Iowa State Fair – the Midwestern state's major summer event, part country fair, part commercial expo – nothing rivals the sheer abundance of corn dogs: hot dogs dipped in cornmeal batter and skewered on wooden sticks, even stretched into "foot-long" versions.

Politically, however, the urban Democrat theme of abundance has little resonance on the vast plains. In front of the Democratic Party booth, set up in one of the fair's historic pavilions, Nathan Sage, a towering man with a red beard, admitted his confusion. He said he preferred to focus on what is real: "Iowa has 185,000 people that are food insecure right now. They don't know where their next meal is going to be. SNAP benefits are going away, the 'big beautiful bill' is taking away Medicaid benefits. And people are scared."

Sage is a newcomer to politics, galvanized by anti-Trump anger. He's launched his first political campaign, hoping to challenge incumbent Senator Joni Ernst – a prominent Republican and Donald Trump ally – in the 2026 elections. "Nothing could be worse than where I grew up, or the war in Iraq," said Sage, who grew up in a trailer park, served in the Marines and then the Army, and once found himself about to step on an improvised explosive device. "One second later – I was dead."

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