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A third candidate plans to seek GOP spot to challenge Axne

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July 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Republican State Senator Zach Nunn of Bondurant plans to run for congress and challenge the only Democrat in Iowa’s D-C delegation. Nunn served two terms in the Iowa House and was elected to the state senate in 2018. He’s also a member of the Iowa National Guard who was deployed this past year. Nunn is the third Republican to announce they’re running in the current third congressional district, which is represented by Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, so a G-O-P primary is likely. Republicans Mary Ann Hanusa, a former state legislator from Council Bluffs, and Nicole Hasso of Johnston, who works in the financial services industry, also plan to seek to the G-O-P spot to challenge Axne. Axne has said she’s considering her options for 2022 and seeking a third term in the U.S. House is one of them.

The state legislature plans to approve new maps for all four of Iowa’s congressional districts next month and the Des Moines metro — where Axne, Nunn and Hasso live — will be in the same district. Hanusa aims to run against Axne, even if Hanusa’s Council Bluffs home is no longer in the same congressional district. According to the US Constitution, candidates are only required to live in the state they plan to represent in the U.S. House, but there’s no requirement they must live within the district.