The Left Tried To Cancel A Recovering Mom. It Backfired.

Recently, I chose to appear in a political ad to expose a lie by the Democrat candidate running in Iowa named Sarah Trone Garriott.

While Sarah claims she protects girls in sports and locker rooms, her votes in the Iowa legislature tell a different story. She voted twice against bills written to protect our girls from grown men in their sports and locker rooms.

Which is why, in an attempt to distract from the truth, and with the aid of a reporter at the Washington Post, Sarah Trone Garriott’s campaign responded the way the Left always responds when the facts are inconvenient. They didn’t even try to defend her record. They went after mine.

Nearly a decade ago, I was charged with driving while intoxicated with my kids in the car. It was serious. It was wrong. I took full responsibility, entered recovery, and by the grace of God, have been continuously sober ever since. This is not a secret that I’ve kept close to the chest. In fact, I have spoken about this openly for years.

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Currently, I serve on the City Council in my town in Iowa. While Iowans do not judge me for my past mistakes, clearly Sarah Trone Garriott does.

Sarah’s anti-women votes are damning. Iowa families overwhelmingly do not support radical ideas like allowing men to compete in girls’ sports.

Shellie Flockhart

Their goal was obvious: silence me, distract from her voting record, and send a message to anyone else who might speak up.

It almost worked. For a moment I considered backing down. Then I remembered what that would actually mean. It would make the cruel ones louder. It would tell every person clawing their way back from a dark place that they will never be “good enough.” It would teach my own kids the wrong lesson.

And it would also let Sarah Trone Garriott off the hook for her radical position.

Iowa congressman Zach Nunn and his wife called to check on me. Twice. In the final stretch of his own campaign, while he was being attacked every day, he took the time. He even posted a video about recovery and resources.

I needed to address this.

For anyone struggling with addiction, you are not alone.

Visit: https://t.co/xHljdGJShV https://t.co/0fSOjizNGO

— Zach Nunn (@NunnForCongress) October 26, 2026

That is the difference between a candidate who performs compassion and one who actually practices it. Sarah Trone Garriott claims to be a minister who cares about people. Her campaign treated a woman, a mother, who is nearly a decade into recovery, as a disposable distraction.

I am not running for office. I’m just an Iowa mom who told the truth. I am responsible for everything I say and do—including how I vote.

They want us to believe that one past mistake erases every step anyone in recovery has taken since. I refuse. I will keep speaking the truth. I will keep letting God lead. And I will vote for candidates who respond with character instead of cruelty.