IOWA — Democratic state senator Sarah Trone Garriott is a candidate in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, challenging incumbent Republican Representative Zach Nunn. The district encompasses Des Moines, its suburbs, and much of the southwestern part of the state.

Trone Garriott, who is also a Lutheran pastor and has worked in the nonprofit sector, recently completed a 21-county tour of her district. "It's really important to show up for people, and I have faith in Iowans to be able to come together and meet the challenges facing us today," Trone Garriott said. She added, "But I know that there are a lot of Iowans who have lost faith in their government, and for good reason."

Connie Klug expressed concerns about the Democratic Party's prospects in the race. "I'm not confident we're gonna win," Klug said. "Because I'm afraid that in the end, the Republicans won't necessarily be voting against Sarah. They're going to be voting against putting any Democrat in Congress." Registered Republican voters in Iowa outnumber registered Democratic voters by approximately 200,000.

Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, indicated that the party has learned lessons from past elections. Hart, a former state legislator who lost to Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the 2020 election by a single-digit margin, said, "As I talk to folks across the state, it's clear that what was happening at the national level was not representative of the way people think here in Iowa." Hart stated, "I think we learned some tough lessons." Iowa has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 2012, and Donald Trump won the state by 13 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. The last time Iowa voters elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate was in 2008, and to the U.S. House of Representatives was in 2020.

A May Pew Research Center poll indicated that 59% of Americans hold an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party and approximately 59% hold an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. Separately, a May Morning Consult poll showed Donald Trump with a -7 approval rating in Iowa. The state is also experiencing increased farm bankruptcies, declining state tax revenue, and the closure or risk of closure for hospitals and rural health clinics.