Iowa Dem’s Muslim prayer, ‘too white’ comments resurface in tight House race: 'Downright shameful'

State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Iowa, caught the attention of the international Muslim community when, in 2021, she offered up a Muslim prayer on the floor of the Iowa Senate despite also being an ordained minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Five years later — amid a bid to unseat Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and flip control of one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country — Garriott’s resurfaced framing of the moment underscores her belief that an overly White and homogeneous representation underserves minority communities.

As a recently elected state senator, Garriott shared a prayer highlighting a handful of Allah’s many names and characteristics.

"We can all benefit as people of faith and as citizens to grow stronger as a community. So today I’m sharing a prayer from an accomplished young woman in my district," she read.

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Some time after the prayer, Garriott joined Mohammed Shafiq on the YouTube channel British Muslim TV to explain the moment.

"The Senate begins every day with prayer. And they almost always share Christian prayers. And for me, it’s really important to make sure that the diverse religious communities here and in Des Moines get to have their voice heard," Garriott told Shafiq.

"I’ve made a commitment to only be praying prayers from those other communities," Garriott said.

Iowa is 93% Protestant, Catholic or unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center. Less than 1% of Iowa’s population is Muslim, according to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

At the time, Garriott explained she believed Muslims had suffered discrimination in the state, prompting her to characterize her prayer as one way for lawmakers to combat religious discrimination.

"I just think there is some horrible animosity towards our Muslim neighbors. And we have a significant Muslim population in this metro area, and those voices deserve to be heard," she said.

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The moment is consistent with other instances where Garriott has voiced concern over homogeneity in representation — particularly among White Christian men.

"By being in state government, I can see we have a long way to go in representing our community. It’s not a very diverse group of leaders. We don’t have people from many religious backgrounds — it’s mostly white, mostly Christian," Garriott said in a separate interview.

Garriott did not respond to inquiries on how far lawmakers should go to represent beliefs other than their own for the sake of representation or whether such efforts increased risks of disingenuous expressions of faith.

On the other side of the aisle, her framing sparked backlash from Republicans.

Her opponent, Nunn, alluded to her comments on race and religion in Iowa in a campaign event on Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't need a lecture from someone who pretends to preach from the pulpit while at the same time doing things like tell Americans that they're too white and too racist, or wag their finger to say ‘hey, most of Iowa is bigoted.’ I don't believe that's true," Nunn said.

To at least one Republican strategist, Garriott has used her comments and the 2021 prayer to separate herself from other Democrats.

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"It is downright shameful to go on a foreign television show and call Americans racist and backwards, but this is exactly how Sarah Trone Garriott has risen up the ranks in the Democrat Party," Zach Kraft, an RNC spokesperson, said.

Nunn last won re-election in 2024 by just 3.9%. The district, Iowa’s third, is among the country’s 16 most competitive races in 2026, according to the Cook Political Report.