Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne faces off against Republican Zach Nunn in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election

• Rep. Cindy Axne is running against Republican Zach Nunn in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.
• The 3rd District is located in the southwestern region of Iowa.
• Axne has raised more than triple the amount as Nunn. But experts say the race is either a "toss-up" or "leans Republican."

Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne faces off against Republican state Sen. Zach Nunn in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District candidates

Axne is a member of the Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture. Prior to her time in Congress, she worked for the Tribune Company, the State of Iowa, and as a small business owner with her husband.

Axne was elected to the House in 2018, becoming one of the first two women from Iowa elected to the House in the nation's history after she defeated incumbent Rep. David Young. In 2020, she faced off against Young again, narrowly defeating him by just over 1% of the vote.

During the current congressional session, Axne was one of dozens of members of Congress identified as having violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 for improperly disclosing personal stock trades.

Nunn, Axne's challenger, is an Iowa state senator, Air Force veteran, and consultant. Nunn handily defeated his GOP primary opponents, bringing in nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Voting history for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District is located in the southwestern region of the state.

The district voted for former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden in the 2020 election prior to redistricting in the state, making it one of seven districts to vote for Trump in 2020 but elect a Democratic representative.

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Axne has raised $6.6 million, spent $5.9 million, and has about $712,000 million on hand, as of October 19. Her opponent, Nunn, has raised about $2.3 million, spent $1.9 million, and has about $351,000 cash on hand.

As of late October, several dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend about $6.7 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase. The National Republican Congressional Committee and Congressional Leadership Fund, a pro-Nunn super PAC, account for the majority of that spending.

What experts say

The race between Axne and Nunn is rated as a "toss-up" by Inside Elections, "lean Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "leans Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.