Iowa's 3rd Congressional District

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District

Incumbent

Zach Nunn

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Zach Nunn (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Iowa representatives represented an average of 798,102 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 763,447 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Zach Nunn (R)
		Lanon Baccam (D)
		Xavier Carrigan (D)
		Jennifer Konfrst (D)
	Submit photo	Tracy Limon (D)
		Sarah Trone Garriott (D)
	Submit photo	Easton Wolfe (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent Zach Nunn (R) defeated Lanon Baccam (D) and Marco Battaglia (L) in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Nunn (R)	51.8	213,746
		Lanon Baccam (D)	47.9	197,962
		Marco Battaglia (L) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3%	1,197

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 412,905
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Lanon Baccam (D) defeated Melissa Vine (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lanon Baccam	84.1	19,357
		Melissa Vine	15.8	3,642
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	29

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,028
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent Zach Nunn (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Nunn	98.3	21,103
		Other/Write-in votes	1.7%	365

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,468
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Zach Nunn (R) defeated incumbent Cindy Axne (D) in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Nunn (R)	50.3	156,262
		Cindy Axne (D)	49.6	154,117
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2%	534

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 310,913
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent Cindy Axne (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Axne	99.5	47,710
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5%	252

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 47,962
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Zach Nunn (R) defeated Nicole Hasso (R) and Gary Leffler (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Nunn	65.8	30,502
		Nicole Hasso	19.4	8,991
		Gary Leffler	14.7	6,800
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2%	89

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,382
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mary Ann Hanusa (R)

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent Cindy Axne (D) defeated David Young (R) and Bryan Holder (L) in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Axne (D)	48.9	219,205
		David Young (R)	47.5	212,997
		Bryan Holder (L)	3.4	15,361
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	384

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 447,947
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent Cindy Axne (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Axne	99.2	76,681
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8%	623

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 77,304
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

David Young (R) defeated Bill Schafer (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Young	69.5	39,103
		Bill Schafer	30.1	16,904
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4%	227

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,234
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brad Huss (R)
• Joshua Louis Schoenblatt (R)

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Axne (D)	49.3	175,642
		David Young (R)	47.1	167,933
		Bryan Holder (L)	2.0	7,267
		Mark Elworth Jr. (Legal Medical Now Party)	0.6	2,015
		Paul Knupp (G)	0.5	1,888
		Joe Grandanette (Independent)	0.4	1,301
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1%	195

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 356,241 (100% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Cindy Axne (D) defeated Eddie Mauro (D) and Pete D'Alessandro (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cindy Axne	58.0	32,910
		Eddie Mauro	26.4	15,006
		Pete D'Alessandro	15.6	8,874

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 56,790
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Austin Frerick (D)
• Theresa Greenfield (D)
• Heather Ryan (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3

Incumbent David Young (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Young	100.0	21,712

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 21,712
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Previous election results

2016

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as a race to watch. Incumbent David Young (R) defeated Jim Mowrer (D), Bryan Holder (L), Claudia Addy (I), and Joe Grandanette (I) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Young defeated Joe Grandanette in the Republican primary on June 7, 2016, while Mowrer defeated Desmund Adams and Mike Sherzan in the Democratic primary.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Young Incumbent	53.4%	208,598
	Democratic	Jim Mowrer	39.7%	155,002
	Libertarian	Bryan Holder	3.9%	15,372
	Independent	Claudia Addy	1.6%	6,348
	Independent	Joe Grandanette	1.2%	4,518
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	449
Total Votes				390,287
Source: Iowa Secretary of State

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jim Mowrer	49.6%	13,024
Mike Sherzan	36.5%	9,573
Desmund Adams	13.9%	3,650
Total Votes		26,247
Source: Iowa Secretary of State

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Young Incumbent	85.2%	17,977
Joe Grandanette	14.8%	3,134
Total Votes		21,111
Source: Iowa Secretary of State

2014

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 3rd Congressional District of Iowa held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. David Young (R) defeated challengers Staci Appel (D), Edward Wright (L) and Bryan Jack Holder (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Staci Appel	42.2%	119,109
	Republican	David Young	52.8%	148,814
	Libertarian	Ed Wright	3.2%	9,054
	Independent	Bryan Jack Holder	1.5%	4,360
	Write-in	Other	0.3%	729
Total Votes				282,066
Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results

General election candidates

• David Young
• Staci Appel
• Edward Wright
• Bryan Jack Holder

June 3, 2014, primary results

Republican Primary

• Joe Grandanette: Teacher and businessman
• Matt Schultz: Iowa Secretary of State
• David Young - Former Chief of Staff to Sen. Chuck Grassleya
• Brad Zaun: State Senator
• Robert Cramer
• Monte Shaw

Note: The Republican nomination was decided by a convention after none of the six candidates reached the 35 percent threshold in the primary required to make the general election ballot.

Democratic Primary

• Staci Appela

Considered but withdrew

• Michael Sherzan - Businessman

Declined to run

• Tom Latham - Incumbent
• Brenna Findley: Legal counsel to Gov. Terry Branstad
• Mary Ann Hanusa: State Representative

2012

See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012

The 3rd Congressional District of Iowa held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent from the 4th District, Tom Latham won the election in the district.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom Latham Incumbent	52.3%	202,000
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell	43.7%	168,632
	Independent	David Rosenfeld	1.6%	6,286
	Independent	Scott G. Batcher	2.4%	9,352
Total Votes				386,270
Source: Iowa Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Brad Zaun (R) and Rebecca Williamson (Socialist Workers) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	50.7%	122,147
	Republican	Brad Zaun	46.5%	111,925
	Socialist Workers	Rebecca Williamson	2.6%	6,258
	N/A	Write-In	0.2%	426
Total Votes				240,756

2008
On November 4, 2008, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Kim Schmett (R) and Frank V. Forrestal (Socialist Workers Party) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	56.4%	176,904
	Republican	Kim Schmett	42.1%	132,136
	Socialist Workers Party	Frank V. Forrestal	1.5%	4,599
Total Votes				313,639

2006
On November 7, 2006, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jeff Lamberti (R) and Helen Meyers (Socialist Workers) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	51.9%	115,769
	Republican	Jeff Lamberti	46.5%	103,722
	Socialist Workers	Helen Meyers	1.6%	3,591
Total Votes				223,082

2004
On November 2, 2004, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Stan Thompson (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	55.2%	168,007
	Republican	Stan Thompson	44.7%	136,099
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	213
Total Votes				304,319

2002
On November 5, 2002, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Stan Thompson (R), Jeffrey J. Smith (L) and Edwin B. Fruit (Socialist Workers Party) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	53.4%	115,367
	Republican	Stan Thompson	45%	97,285
	Libertarian	Jeffrey J. Smith	1.2%	2,689
	Socialist Workers Party	Edwin B. Fruit	0.3%	569
	N/A	Write-in	0%	75
Total Votes				215,985

2000
On November 7, 2000, Leonard L. Boswell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jay Marcus (R), Joe Seehusen (L), Sue Atkinson (I) and Jim Hennager (Earth Federation) in the general election.

U.S. House, Iowa District 3 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Leonard L. Boswell incumbent	64.2%	156,327
	Republican	Jay Marcus	34.4%	83,810
	Libertarian	Joe Seehusen	0.9%	2,263
	Independent	Sue Atkinson	0.3%	851
	Earth Federation	Jim Hennager	0%	112
Total Votes				243,363

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Iowa after the 2020 census

On November 4, 2021, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed new congressional and state legislative maps into law after the state's Legislative Services Agency had proposed them on October 21, 2021. The Iowa legislature approved the maps on October 28, 2021, by a vote of 48-1 in the state Senate and 93-2 in the state House. The legislature could only vote to approve or reject the maps and could not make any amendments. These maps took effect for Iowa's 2022 congressional and legislative elections.

How does redistricting in Iowa work? The Legislative Services Agency prepares redistricting plans for approval by the Iowa State Legislature. According to All About Redistricting, the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) consists of "civil servants committed to nonpartisanship and otherwise charged with tasks like legal and fiscal analysis of state legislation and state government oversight." The LSA is assisted by a commission, which consists of the following members:

1. one member selected by the majority leader of the Iowa State Senate
2. one member selected by the majority leader of the Iowa House of Representatives
3. one member selected by the minority leader of the Iowa State Senate
4. one member selected by the minority leader of the Iowa House of Representatives
5. one member selected by the first four members

The members of this commission cannot "hold partisan public office or an office in a political party, and none may be a relative or employee of a federal or state legislator (or the legislature as a whole)."

Working with this commission, the LSA drafts congressional and state legislative district lines. The maps are presented as a single bill to the state legislature, which may approve or reject the bill without altering it (the legislature can provide feedback). If the legislature rejects the plan, the LSA must draft a second proposal. If the legislature rejects the second proposal, the LSA must draft a third, and final, set of maps. If the legislature rejects this plan, it may then approve its own maps. Since the implementation of this process in 1980, the state legislature has never chosen not to approve an LSA proposal. Redistricting plans are also subject to gubernatorial veto. In addition, the legislature may repeal or revise the maps at any time, though it has never done so.

State law establishes the following criteria for both congressional and state legislative districts:

1. Districts must be "convenient and contiguous."
2. Districts must "preserve the integrity of political subdivisions like counties and cities."
3. Districts must "to the extent consistent with other requirements, [be] reasonably compact–defined in terms of regular polygons, comparisons of length and width, and overall boundary perimeter."

In addition, state House districts are required to be contained within state Senate districts "where possible, and where not in conflict with the criteria above." It is explicit in state law that district lines cannot be drawn "to favor a political party, incumbent, or other person or group."

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 3rd Congressional District of Iowa after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in Iowa after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Iowa State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Iowa's 3rd the 211th most Republican district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Iowa's 3rd the 209th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 49.3%-48.9%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Iowa's 3rd the 208th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 48.9% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 49.3%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+1. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Iowa's 3rd Congressional District the 226th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.00. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.00 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Iowa
• Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024
• Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
• Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
• Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 3

Footnotes

[show]

Iowa's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Joni Ernst (R)

Chuck Grassley (R)

Representatives

District 1

Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R)

District 2

Ashley Hinson (R)

District 3

Zach Nunn (R)

District 4

Randy Feenstra (R)

Republican Party (6)