Iowa Dem admits being 'uncomfortable' with whiteness as she seeks to flip competitive House seat

"The feeling was very different. I was like 'whoa,' and again I was uncomfortable in a different way," she added.

"Every time Sarah Trone Garriott's handlers let her loose, the wicked witch of woke finds a new way to insult Iowans," Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said.

Trone Garriott's campaign did not respond to a request for comment on previous remarks. Nunn's campaign also did not respond when reached about his competitor's comments. 

Nine years after Trone Garriott recorded the podcast interview, her comments highlight a wariness of homogeneity and underscore the candidate's belief that representation should be tied to demographics.

"They actually have quotas, and I know that's a dirty word for some people, but they have requirements of how many people from different ethnic backgrounds, religious minorities - and gender balance is part of their structure," Trone Garriott said of the Balkan nation.

"And so, there's kind of a preference for those folks that are underrepresented to be in government. Which I think is really important to bring those voices out," she added.

She worked as a volunteer with the anti-poverty program under AmeriCorps VISTA in New Mexico - where she was apparently awoken to the 'whiteness' of her Minnesotan hometown.