Lefty Pastor Preached ‘Showing Up.’ Then We Checked Her Record.

A lefty Lutheran minister running to flip a battleground Iowa congressional district has preached the importance of “showing up” on the campaign trail — while her own record shows she’s been a no-show for dozens of key votes in the state legislature.

State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott (D-IA), the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, leaned on her pastoral background in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) over the weekend to argue that she is uniquely equipped to represent her constituents every day in Washington.

“Everyone knows me as the pastor. I am a Lutheran minister. I still preach on the weekends, and this month I’m celebrating the 18th anniversary of my ordination,” she said at the Iowa State Fair. “And one thing that I have learned from ministry is to serve a community well, you have got to show up.”

Trone Garriott’s voting record tells a very different story. In the 2026 Iowa Senate session, Trone Garriott has already missed 62 of 312 floor roll-call votes — roughly 20% of all votes, according to her legislative record reviewed by The Daily Wire.

Among the votes she skipped were a bill strengthening sentences for sex predators convicted of sexually exploiting minors and legislation funding the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, including Medicaid — a critical source of funding for rural health care and an issue Trone Garriott has repeatedly highlighted on the campaign trail. Treon Garriott did not obtain a leave of absence for missing either vote.

The D.C. hopeful also missed other consequential votes, including legislation funding veterans’ services in the state and a bill cracking down on human trafficking by expanding screening and strengthening protections for victims.

The Daily Wire has reached out to Trone Garriott for comment.

A state legislator missing 20% of recorded votes falls well short of the typical member of Congress’ voting rate. In 2025, members of the House and Senate collectively participated in 96.8% of roll-call votes, meaning the average member missed roughly 3.2%, according to a Roll Call analysis.

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), her Republican opponent, has a 95% attendance rate, according to StumpWatch, a political accountability tracking website. In November, the two candidates will battle for a purple congressional seat that could help determine control of the House. In 2024, Nunn won the Des Moines-area district by less than four percentage points.

“Sarah Trone Garriott couldn’t be bothered to show up when Iowans needed a tax break or rural healthcare needed funding, but she never hesitated to cash in her taxpayer-funded paycheck,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement to The Daily Wire. “Iowans want bipartisan workhorses like combat veteran Zach Nunn, not do-nothing career politicians like Sarah Trone Garriott.”

The Lutheran minister looking for a promotion to Congress once claimed that challenges to the traditional definitions of men and women are “very threatening” to white men and downplayed concerns about the dangers of transgender ideology for women, The Daily Wire previously reported. During a 2023 speech on “Christian Nationalism” at Ames First United Methodist Church, Trone Garriott argued that Evangelical Christians needed “threats” to react against to maintain their identity.

When she did show up to vote, Trone Garriott rejected a bill to keep boys out of girls’ sports and opposed legislation shielding children from transgender procedures. Still, on the campaign trail, she touts herself as a legislator who will represent Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress.

“You have to show up for everyone because that is what my neighbors deserve. A legislator who is going to show up for them whether they vote for them or not,” she told the fair crowd. “And I would often knock doors just to tell my neighbors even if they said they weren’t going to vote for me. I want you to know who I am, and here’s my phone number so you can call me if you need help, because that’s my job.”