Republican Rep. Zach Nunn is asking voters for a third term in Congress. As part his pitch, he said he’s kept his promise to go after corruption.
In front of a crowd of voters on a sunny day at the state fair, Nunn stressed his work on trying to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. He said it's proof he’s willing to challenge business as usual in D.C.
“Here's the reality: when Washington spends more time making themselves rich, they spend less time taking care of the country,” he said onstage at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.
The 3rd District covers south central Iowa, including the communities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Winterset and Ottumwa. The battleground district is among Iowa's three competitive congressional races, and is targeted by national Democrats as a pick-up opportunity to help regain control of the U.S. House.
The district also leans the least Republican out of Iowa’s four congressional districts. Earlier this cycle, the Cook Political Report categorized the race as "toss-up" before shifting it earlier this month to “lean Democrat.”
The 3rd District candidates are using congressional stock trading bans to tell voters how they'll stand up to corruption. Like other Democrats this election cycle, Nunn’s challenger Sarah Trone Garriott tells voters unchecked corruption plays a part in the higher prices they're seeing. Nunn has touted his bipartisan work on the campaign trail this election cycle, saying targeting congressional stock trading allows him to tap into voter concerns that go beyond party lines.
“I think this goes directly to the frustration that every Iowan has with the corruption that they see taking place in Washington D.C.,” Nunn told reporters after a debate hosted by KCCI. “It's one of the reasons that we made this the first bill series that we brought to the floor, and we've been able to work across the aisle with some, you know, really exotic characters. Everybody from AOC to Chip Roy also believe this is a challenge.”
Nunn highlights bill, Trone Garriott pushes back
Nunn flipped the 3rd District in 2022 when he was first elected to Congress, ousting Democrat Cindy Axne. In 2024, he won the district by 3.9%, taking all counties in the district except Polk County.
In 2026, Nunn is among the most vulnerable Republicans in the midterms. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and most recently, House Speaker Mike Johnson, have all visited the district this year to galvanize support for Nunn in his reelection bid.
With voters, Nunn highlights his work on the “Stop Insider Trading Act.” He cosponsored the bill with more than 90 other members of Congress, including Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks, Rep. Ashley Hinson and Rep. Randy Feenstra.
The bill bars lawmakers, along with their spouses and dependent children, from buying individual stocks. Lawmakers could keep trading stocks they already own but would have new disclosure requirements.
Most Democrats voted against it in the House in July, criticizing it for roping in new voter ID requirements from Republicans’ stalled SAVE America Act. They also criticized the bill for not requiring lawmakers to sell stocks they already own, POLITICO reports.
Senate Democrats blocked the bill last month. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill “toothless.”
Trone Garriott has repeated these criticisms at her campaign stops, drawing a contrast between the bill and her proposal which she calls a “real” stock trading ban.
“Zach Nunn might say that he has supported a stock trading ban, but it was a stock trading ban in name only because you could still trade stocks,” Trone Garriott told a crowd at a meet and greet in Guthrie County on Oct. 12.
Both Nunn and Trone Garriott have said they don’t currently own stocks.
Trone Garriott's proposal bans stock trading for members of Congress, their spouses and congressional staff. It also applies to the president, vice president and their staff, as well as members of the Supreme Court, a campaign spokesperson confirmed.
In her campaign, Trone Garriott traces back high costs, healthcare issues and the ongoing war in Iran to corruption. She said making that connection is central to her campaign.
“People can see that something is really wrong and they’re discouraged about our government,” she said in an interview with IPR. “They’re just discouraged and they don’t believe our elected leaders are really working for us. And they’re right about that.”
In her stump speech, Trone Garriott has highlighted a stock trading bill she cosponsored in the statehouse in 2025. She announced the bill at the same time as she introduced a term limits bill.
Nunn has criticized her bill for not advancing, which she points out is due to being a member of a minority party in the statehouse.
Democrats have advantage in anti-corruption messaging
Stock trading bans are a convenient vehicle for talking about corruption because the issue is simple to explain to voters, said Megan Goldberg, an associate professor of politics at Cornell College
With Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, Democrats have an advantage when wielding anti-corruption talking points, she said. This benefit layers on top of the advantage the party in the minority typically has in midterm elections.
And, Goldberg said Democrats are borrowing strength from Trump’s disapproval ratings, which partly stems from concerns about corruption.
“That's the power right now I think of the Democratic candidates is that people want something to change, and it's a really simple answer to say ‘Then pick a different party, pick a different candidate.' And that's the path forward to change,” Goldberg said.
High prices and blatant corruption at the federal level, like President Trump's close relationship with tech-trillionaire Elon Musk, are also leaving voters disillusioned, she said.
“Things feel like they’re not going well, for many, many people,“ Goldberg said. “And it feels like there’s no path forward to changing things as an individual, that you’re sort of trapped in this cycle of things are bad and they’re getting worse and you can’t do anything.”
Talking about ethics reform speaks to both of these anxieties, she said.
Kirk Johnson, 71, said he’s been hurt by high input costs, as well as the president allowing more foreign imports of beef.
Johnson attended the Montgomery County Democrats annual summer picnic last month where Trone Garriott spoke. He said the consequences of the administration's policies have been unfair for farmers. He also sees ethics reform as an extension of that issue.
“I mean we just want it to be fair. Everybody in the United States wants it to be fair,” Johnson said. “They don’t want the politicians to know the day before what policies are coming out so they can jump on the stock market or the board of trade or whatever they want before the rest of us know.”
For Chris McLinden, from rural Dallas County, hearing candidates talk about anti-corruption falls far down his list of priorities. Linden, 66, attended the Westside Conservatives Club meeting on Oct. 28 where Nunn gave remarks.
“I read a lot about it, and I hear a lot about it, and I see a lot about it, but I think anything that's prevalent in terms of in politics and corruption has probably been there forever, and it probably will be,” he said. “I don't think it's anything new to this cycle.”
Polling shows other issues, like the economy and cost of living, are top of mind for Iowa voters, yet candidates are betting that addressing corruption will also help them win.
Voters are weighing in on the race. Early voting has started and Election Day is next Tuesday.
