Democrat Trone Garriott Wins Iowa’s 3rd, Flipping Seat From Nunn

DES MOINES, Iowa—Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott defeated Republican incumbent Zach Nunn in the race for Iowa’s Third Congressional District, which includes Des Moines and much of southwest Iowa.

The Associated Press called the race at 12:03 a.m. ET on Nov. 4.

The Cook Political Report initially ranked the district as “Lean Republican” before changing it to a toss-up in mid-January. The election analysis website kept the ranking as a toss-up until just days before early voting began on Oct. 14, it moved the prediction to “Lean Democrat” on Oct. 9.

Candidates addressed voters’ concerns about rising costs during the Oct. 27 KCCI debate.

Nunn, a combat veteran and Air Force colonel who touted himself as one of Congress’s most bipartisan members, said he’s pushing to boost American energy and Iowa-made diesel, repeatedly emphasizing support for biodiesel.

Garriott, a Lutheran pastor, blamed Trump administration tariffs for driving up costs and promised to push back if elected to Congress.

During the debate, candidates were asked how they’d address the rising cancer rates in the state, which is an issue that surged into a top voter concern after the “Cancer In Iowa” report released in the spring ignited fears that nitrates in farm fertilizer runoff are getting into the water supply and contributing to the rise of cancer in the state.

Nunn said he’s working to ensure every county in the third district has a water quality monitoring station to help identify nitrate sources, but he would not push the federal government to reconsider the nitrate limit.

Garriott proposed working with the federal government to offer farmers resources to clean up water and support lowering the federal nitrate limit.

The race between Republican incumbent Nunn and Democratic state Sen. Garriott was one of three competitive U.S. House races in the Hawkeye State.

The Iowa Secretary of State’s office reported that the 2026 election received substantially more absentee and early ballots than the 2022 midterm election.

As of Oct. 30, the Secretary of State’s office said it received 407,549 absentee and early ballots statewide—39 percent more than the same date in the 2022 midterms.

But absentee and early ballots submitted during this election were still 27 percent fewer than on the same date in the 2024 presidential election.

Four days before the election, the Secretary of State’s office reported that 191,768 ballots came from registered Democrats, 137,899 from registered Republicans, and 76,467 from no-party voters.