A city councilwoman from Dallas Center, Iowa, is featured in a new political commercial that criticizes a Democratic House candidate over children’s safety, according to The Washington Post. Shellie Flockhart, 55, delivers the line, “When it comes to our kids, Sarah is just plain dangerous.” The spot lists her only by her first name. It is paid for by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC focused on electing Republicans to the U.S. House.
The commercial includes several women who say Sarah Trone Garriott’s record as a state senator on transgender issues makes her a risk to kids. Trone Garriott is challenging Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in a competitive Des Moines-area district. AdImpact, which monitors campaign ads, reports that the super PAC spent at least $1 million on the commercial.
Once the ad began airing, a local Iowa liberal group shared posts about Flockhart’s earlier criminal case. The posts pointed to her conviction and called her role in the commercial ironic. People on social media have also raised her record in recent years.
The 2017 driving incident and statements from both sides
Records from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County show Flockhart was arrested in 2017 after authorities said she drove while intoxicated with two of her children in the vehicle. The children were 8 and 11 at the time. An officer who responded said he found her parked in the grass beside a highway. He reported that her speech was heavily slurred and that she seemed to have trouble following questions.
A breath test at the scene registered a .254 blood alcohol level, three times the .08 legal limit. A second test taken at the jail showed .192, according to the officer’s affidavit filed with the court. Flockhart later pleaded guilty to child endangerment and to operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Both counts were misdemeanors. The court required her to pay a fine and serve a period of probation on each charge. Similar charges have led to prosecutions elsewhere, including other parents charged with child endangerment.
She sent The Washington Post a one-page statement about the episode, but the conditions she attached for its publication would break the paper’s editorial rules. In podcast appearances last year, she described a past addiction to drugs and alcohol. She said she entered rehab years earlier, turned to faith, and has since helped others facing the same struggles. “It’s been one of the most rewarding things ever, and I don’t regret that part of my journey because it’s brought a lot of depth to life and it’s brought me salvation,” she said during a 2025 interview.
Trone Garriott’s spokesperson, Zach Schenkman, answered the ad with the statement, “It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Zach Nunn and his allies have resorted to desperate lies to try to win this election.” Nunn’s campaign offered no reply when asked for comment. Torunn Sinclair, speaking for the Congressional Leadership Fund, issued a response that skipped any mention of Flockhart and instead faulted The Post for covering the story.
As a state senator, Trone Garriott voted against legislation that would have stopped schools from allowing students into bathrooms that do not match the sex listed on their birth certificates.
In one of her own recent ads, she said, “I oppose letting men in women’s locker rooms and voted to let parents, not politicians, make decisions for their kids.” Some LGBTQ+ activists criticized that message. Other Iowa Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand and Senate candidate Josh Turek, have also pulled back from earlier progressive stances on transgender policy.
Republicans across the state have tried to frame Democratic opponents as disconnected from voters on these questions. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election analyst, moved the Des Moines-area district from toss-up status to one leaning Democratic earlier this month. The shift occurred while Iowa as a whole grew more competitive for Republicans than many had expected.
Published: Oct 25, 2026 06:00 am