Sarah Trone Garriott Faces Clash Over Bathroom Votes

SARAH TRONE GARRIOTT is trying to make the bathroom policy fight in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District about her campaign message, not her past votes. The Democratic candidate for Congress says she opposes men having access to women’s locker rooms, even as Republicans point to her record in the Iowa legislature as evidence that her position has shifted.

In a recent campaign video, Trone Garriott said she is a mother of two children in Iowa public schools and argued that the debate has been distorted by her political opponents. She said her children’s education and safety keep her up at night, then declared, “I oppose letting men in women’s locker rooms.” Her campaign says she is standing by that message. Spokesperson Zach Schenkman said, “Sarah does not want men in women’s locker rooms. As a parent, there is nothing more important than the safety of our children, that’s why she will always stand up for a parent’s right to decide what’s best for their children.”

That message sits uneasily beside votes she cast in the Iowa Senate. Republicans have highlighted two measures in particular: a 2023 law that bars elementary and secondary schools from allowing someone into a bathroom that does not match that person’s biological sex, and a 2022 law that set school and college sports eligibility rules based on biological sex. Trone Garriott voted against both bills. Vice President J.D. Vance seized on those votes in a campaign appearance for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, saying Trone Garriott had voted to push biological males into girls’ sports at an early age and had opposed banning gender transition surgeries for minors.