U.S. House · Iowa's 3rd District

South-central Iowa, including Des Moines and its suburbs

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 21 claims re-checked against their sources · 1 corrected · 0 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • Corrected Trone Garriott's priorities text: her campaign site's issue heading reads 'A Higher Standard for Washington', not 'A higher ethical standard for Washington' as previously written; removed the unsupported word 'ethical'.

On the ballot · 2 candidates

Where they stand — side by side

Only positions documented in a cited source are shown. Where an officeholder’s recorded votes speak to an issue, the votes set the position (marked “votes”). A dash means we found no clear public position — not that the candidate has none.

ISSUEZach Nunn
R
Sarah Trone Garriott
D
Protect legal access to abortion—Supports[5]
Stricter gun laws—Supports[11]votes
Expand immigration enforcement and deportationsSupports[13][14][15][16][17]votes—
Raise taxes on high earners or corporationsOpposes[14][15][16]votesSupports[12]votes
Expand public health coverageMixed[14][15][16][18]votes—
Faster transition away from fossil fuelsOpposes[14][15][16]votesSupports[5]
Continue U.S. military aid to IsraelSupports[9]—
Broad tariffs on imported goodsSupports[19]votes—

The candidates, in full

Zach Nunn

RINCUMBENTU.S. Representative, Iowa's 3rd District (since 2023)

Nunn is the Republican incumbent for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, first elected in 2022. He is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and former National Security Council staffer who previously served in the Iowa Senate and Iowa House.[1][2]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Key votes in Congress

  • NoWar Powers Resolution directing removal of forces from Iran hostilities · H. Con. Res. 86 · Passed 215–208 · 2026-06-03 roll call ↗The resolution directs the President to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran that Congress has not authorized, invoking the War Powers Resolution. It passed the House with support from Democrats and a number of Republicans.
  • NoResolution disapproving tariffs on Canada · H.J. Res. 72 · Passed 219–211 · 2026-02-11 roll call ↗The resolution terminates the national emergency the President declared in February 2025 to justify a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada, ending that tariff if it becomes law. It passed with a bipartisan majority, including several Republicans who broke with the administration on trade policy.
  • YesConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 — full-year government funding · H.R. 7148 · Passed 217–214 · 2026-02-03 roll call ↗The bill provides full-year discretionary appropriations for federal agencies for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, replacing the stopgap funding enacted after the fall 2025 shutdown. It sets spending levels across defense and non-defense programs through September 2026.
  • YesBreaking the Gridlock Act — ACA subsidy extension · H.R. 1834 · Passed 230–196 · 2026-01-08 roll call ↗The bill extends for additional years the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that were expanded in 2021 and had lapsed at the end of 2025, lowering health-insurance premiums for people who buy coverage on ACA marketplaces. It passed with support from nearly all Democrats and a small group of Republicans.
  • NoWar Powers Resolution on Venezuela · H. Con. Res. 64 · Failed 211–213 · 2025-12-17 roll call ↗The resolution would have directed the President to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities in or against Venezuela that Congress had not authorized. It failed after U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels off Venezuela had raised questions in Congress about the administration's legal authority for military action in the region.
  • YesNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 — final passage · S. 1071 · Passed 312–112 · 2025-12-10 roll call ↗The fiscal year 2026 NDAA authorizes roughly $900 billion in defense spending, including a pay raise for service members and funding for shipbuilding, munitions, and missile-defense programs. It also sets policy on military personnel, procurement, and other Defense Department programs for the year.
  • YesEpstein Files Transparency Act · H.R. 4405 · Passed 427–1 · 2025-11-18 roll call ↗The bill directs the Department of Justice to publicly release its investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, while allowing redactions to protect victim identities, ongoing investigations, and law enforcement techniques. It passed with near-unanimous support.
  • YesContinuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 — shutdown-ending vote · H.R. 5371 · Passed 222–209 · 2025-11-12 roll call ↗The bill reopened the federal government after a 43-day shutdown by funding most agencies through January 30, 2026, and providing full-year funding for a smaller group of agencies through September 2026. It also reversed shutdown-related federal layoffs and funded SNAP benefits retroactively.
  • YesCLARITY Act — digital asset market structure · H.R. 3633 · Passed 294–134 · 2025-07-17 roll call ↗The CLARITY Act creates a regulatory framework dividing oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It sets registration and disclosure requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and other digital-asset intermediaries.
  • YesGENIUS Act — stablecoin regulation · S. 1582 · Passed 308–122 · 2025-07-17 roll call ↗The GENIUS Act creates a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to hold reserves backing their tokens on a one-to-one basis and to comply with new disclosure and licensing rules. It was the first major piece of cryptocurrency legislation enacted into federal law.
  • YesOne Big Beautiful Bill Act — final passage · H.R. 1 · Passed 218–214 · 2025-07-03 roll call ↗H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, extends and expands the 2017 tax cuts, adds new deductions for tips, overtime pay, and seniors, and raises the cap on state and local tax deductions. It increases border security and defense spending while cutting projected Medicaid and SNAP spending and adding new work requirements; President Trump signed it into law on July 4, 2025.
  • YesRescissions Act of 2025 · H.R. 4 · Passed 214–212 · 2025-06-12 roll call ↗The Rescissions Act canceled about $9 billion in previously approved federal spending, mostly for foreign aid programs and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It was the first rescissions package Congress had approved in decades.
  • YesOne Big Beautiful Bill Act — House passage · H.R. 1 · Passed 215–214 · 2025-05-22 roll call ↗H.R. 1 extends and modifies the 2017 individual and business tax cuts, creates new deductions for tips and overtime pay, and increases spending on border security and defense. It also reduces projected spending on Medicaid and food-assistance programs and adds new work requirements for some recipients.
  • YesSAVE Act — proof-of-citizenship voter registration · H.R. 22 · Passed 220–208 · 2025-04-10 roll call ↗The SAVE Act would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person when registering to vote in federal elections. It also directs states to establish procedures to remove noncitizens identified on voter rolls.
  • YesFull-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 · H.R. 1968 · Passed 217–213 · 2025-03-11 roll call ↗The bill funded the federal government through the remainder of fiscal year 2025, largely at prior-year spending levels, averting a shutdown ahead of a March 14 deadline. It also extended several expiring health and other program authorizations.
  • YesLaken Riley Act — final passage · S. 5 · Passed 263–156 · 2025-01-22 roll call ↗The Laken Riley Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants who are arrested, charged, or convicted for theft, burglary, or certain violent crimes. It also allows state attorneys general to sue the federal government over certain immigration enforcement decisions.
  • YesSecure the Border Act of 2023 — House passage · H.R. 2 · Passed 219–213 · 2023-05-11 roll call ↗Would have resumed border-wall construction, restricted asylum eligibility, expanded detention, and mandated E-Verify for employers.

On the record — official actions

  • actionServed on the House Committee on Agriculture (Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development; General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit subcommittees) and the Committee on Financial Services (Capital Markets; National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions subcommittees), 2023-2024.[2]
  • bill2026-07-22 · Led the Stop Insider Trading Act, which the House passed 232-198, to prohibit members of Congress and their immediate family members from buying individual stocks while serving in office.[7]

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsExpand immigration enforcement and deportationsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on Laken Riley Act (S. 5, 2025-01-22). Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which funded expanded immigration enforcement, detention and border operations. Voted yes on Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2, 2023-05-11).[13][14][15][16][17]

    What they say: Highlighted a 2025 spending bill's $150 billion in new border and immigration funding, citing more border patrol agents, expanded detention capacity, and additional surveillance technology as wins he helped secure.[8]

    “Today, we passed $150 billion in new funding to deliver serious backup for our law enforcement, border agents, and military.”
  • SupportsContinue U.S. military aid to Israel

    Says he championed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to replenish Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system and provide additional military assistance.[9]

    “Championing the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to replenish the Iron Dome and assist our strongest ally in the Middle East as they fight Hamas and other militant groups.”
  • MixedExpand public health coverageFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which reduced federal Medicaid spending and added Medicaid work requirements. Voted yes on Breaking the Gridlock Act (H.R. 1834, 2026-01-08).[14][15][16][18]

  • OpposesFaster transition away from fossil fuelsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which phased out Inflation Reduction Act clean-energy tax credits.[14][15][16]

  • OpposesRaise taxes on high earners or corporationsFrom recorded votes

    Voted yes on One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1, 2025-05-22; 2025-07-03), which made the 2017 individual tax rates, including the 37% top rate, permanent.[14][15][16]

  • SupportsBroad tariffs on imported goodsFrom recorded votes

    Voted no on Resolution disapproving tariffs on Canada (H.J. Res. 72, 2026-02-11).[19]

In their words — priorities

  • Improving the economy, supporting Iowa agriculture, holding government accountable, keeping the country safe, and helping families and kids, according to his official House issues page.[3]
  • Says tax relief on tips and overtime income and expanded small-business deductions are helping Iowa workers keep more of their pay and giving manufacturers certainty to invest and hire.[6]
  • Government accountability, including leading the bipartisan Stop Insider Trading Act to ban members of Congress and their immediate families from trading individual stocks while in office.[7]

Background

  • Nunn served in the U.S. Air Force and is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.[2]
  • He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and international relations from Drake University (2002), a master's degree in military operational art and science from the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College, and a master's degree in international relations and national security studies from Cambridge University (2007).[2]
  • His career includes working as an adjunct professor in cybersecurity and national policy at Drake University, a director of business development with SimSpace Corporation, chief operations officer and national counterintelligence officer with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and director of cybersecurity policy and engagement on the White House National Security Council.[2]
  • Before his 2022 election to the U.S. House, Nunn served four years each in the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives.[2]

Campaign money

Raised $4.9M · spent $1.4M · $3.6M cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Sarah Trone Garriott

DMember, Iowa State Senate, District 14 (since 2023); previously District 22 (2021-2023)

Won the June 2 Democratic primary

Trone Garriott is a Democratic member of the Iowa State Senate representing District 14, an ordained Lutheran minister, and a former interfaith and food-bank-network coordinator, challenging Nunn for this seat.[4]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

On the record — official actions

  • actionServes on the Iowa Senate Education, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Natural Resources & Environment, and Health Policy Oversight committees (2025-2026).[4]
  • vote2021-03-22 · Voted no on HF 756 (removing the permit requirement to carry a handgun in Iowa), which passed the Iowa Senate 31-17 on 2021-03-22.[11]
  • vote2021-02-23 · Voted no on SF 413 (an elections bill shortening the absentee-voting window and tightening voter-list maintenance), which passed the Iowa Senate 30-18 on 2021-02-23.[10]
  • vote2022-02-24 · Voted no on HF 2317 (replacing Iowa's graduated income tax with a 3.9% flat tax), which passed the Iowa Senate 32-16 on 2022-02-24.[12]

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsProtect legal access to abortion

    Trone Garriott's campaign issues page lists "Reproductive freedom is personal—and non-negotiable" as one of her core issues.[5]

  • SupportsFaster transition away from fossil fuels

    Trone Garriott's campaign issues page lists "Protecting Iowa's land, water, and clean energy future" as a priority.[5]

  • SupportsStricter gun lawsFrom recorded votes

    Voted no on HF 756 (removing the permit requirement to carry a handgun), which passed the Iowa Senate 31-17 on 2021-03-22.[11]

  • SupportsRaise taxes on high earners or corporationsFrom recorded votes

    Voted no on HF 2317 (replacing Iowa's graduated income tax with a 3.9% flat tax), which passed the Iowa Senate 32-16 on 2022-02-24.[12]

In their words — priorities

  • A higher standard for Washington, growing the economy by investing in people rather than special interests, and making life more affordable.[5]
  • Affordable health care, protecting public schools, and protecting Iowa's land, water, and clean energy future.[5]

Background

  • Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she graduated from Cloquet High School and earned a B.A. in history from the College of St. Scholastica (1999), an M.A. in theological studies from Harvard University Divinity School (2003), and an M.Div. from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (2008).[4]
  • Her career includes working as a coordinator of interfaith engagement with the Des Moines Area Religious Council, an associate pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Clive, Iowa, and a pastor of Martin Luther Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bergton, Virginia. She co-founded the Iowa Interfaith Exchange.[4]
  • She has represented Iowa Senate District 14 since January 2023, after representing District 22 from 2021 to 2023, winning re-election in both 2022 and 2024 in a competitive, Republican-leaning district.[4]

Campaign money

Raised $5.3M · spent $1.4M · $3.9M cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Research notes & limits

Nunn's official issues page and Trone Garriott's campaign issues page present their priorities as category headings without expanded text in the fetched page content, so detail beyond the listed issue names was not available within the research budget. No 2025-2026 committee assignment listing was found for Nunn on Ballotpedia; only his 2023-2024 assignments are recorded here. Nunn's official-site press releases were searched for statements matching the guide's 15 issue categories; immigration enforcement and Israel aid were documented from his press releases, but abortion, guns, climate, taxes on high earners, tariffs, and the other issue statements were not directly and specifically addressed in the pages checked, so no positions were added for those.

Sources · 19

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2026 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  2. 2.Zach Nunn · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  3. 3.Issues · Office of Rep. Zach Nunn · 2026-09-25 Official record
  4. 4.Sarah Trone Garriott · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  5. 5.Where I Stand · Sarah for Iowa (campaign site) · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
  6. 6.Nunn Hosts Acting Labor Secretary Sonderling, Highlights Tax Relief for Iowa Workers and Small Businesses · Office of Rep. Zach Nunn · 2026-08-04 Official record
  7. 7.Nunn Secures House Passage of Congressional Stock Trading Ban · Office of Rep. Zach Nunn · 2026-07-22 Official record
  8. 8.🛡️ Border Secured · Office of Rep. Zach Nunn · 2025-07-03 Official record
  9. 9.Nunn Stands Tirelessly with Israel · Office of Rep. Zach Nunn · 2024-10-07 Official record
  10. 10.Journal of the Senate, 44th Day, February 23, 2021 (SF 413 roll call) · Iowa Legislature · 2021-02-23 Official record
  11. 11.Journal of the Senate, 71st Day, March 22, 2021 (HF 756 roll call) · Iowa Legislature · 2021-03-22 Official record
  12. 12.Journal of the Senate, February 24, 2022 (HF 2317 roll call) · Iowa Legislature · 2022-02-24 Official record
  13. 13.Roll call: Laken Riley Act — final passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-01-22 Official record
  14. 14.Roll call: One Big Beautiful Bill Act — House passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-05-22 Official record
  15. 15.H.R. 1 (119th Congress) — One Big Beautiful Bill Act: text and summary · Congress.gov Official record
  16. 16.Roll call: One Big Beautiful Bill Act — final passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2025-07-03 Official record
  17. 17.Roll call: Secure the Border Act of 2023 — House passage · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2023-05-11 Official record
  18. 18.Roll call: Breaking the Gridlock Act — ACA subsidy extension · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2026-01-08 Official record
  19. 19.Roll call: Resolution disapproving tariffs on Canada · Office of the Clerk, U.S. House · 2026-02-11 Official record