As the anticipated midterm election approaches, affordability has become one of the focuses of the campaign trail for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Inflation across the Midwest has increased to 4.2% according to the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics surpassing the national average of 3.7% for the last eight consecutive months while the prices of everything from groceries to gas have surged.
“In my district, families are losing their health care coverage, farmers are paying tens of thousands more for diesel, and the cost of groceries and gas continues to rise,” Democratic challenger Sarah Trone Garriott stated in a recent Facebook post.
She reiterated that theme during a recent appearance on the Iowa Podcast noting that rising costs force families into impossible choices.
“If you’ve got $10 for the week and you need to buy food for your kids and that’s all you’ve got, are you going to buy $10 worth of mac and cheese? It’s 10 boxes, a dollar a box, or are you going to get six or seven organic apples? I mean, the choice is clear,” Trone Garriott said.
Trone Garriott argued on the podcast “blind cuts” to federal programs are pushing necessary goods out of reach for many families.
Trone Garriott’s affordability push
To lower living costs, Trone Garriott is advancing targeted measures, including capping insulin prices and expanding the Double Up Food Bucks SNAP program for fresh local produce. She also supports formalizing Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace subsidies to lower out-of-pocket health expenses. Garriott is also aiming to expand the Child Tax Credit and to eliminate surprise medical bills.
In her state Senate legislative record, she voted in favor of expanding state tax credits for childcare expenses (SF 2424) and backed measures directing state funds toward local food purchasing initiatives for food-insecure households.
These positions are in contrast to incumbent Republican Zach Nunn, whose legislative record has included support for sweeping federal tariffs and foreign policy measures that critics link to rising diesel costs.
What’s Nunn’s plan?
Nunn’s economic strategy centers on deregulation, income tax cuts, and domestic energy production to curb inflation. Nunn has addressed affordability on his campaign website, acknowledging that ”Years of overspending, overregulation, and inflation have driven up the cost of everything from groceries to housing.” He has highlighted his work on the ROAD to Housing Act, arguing it delivers critical relief for rural homebuyers.
Defenders highlight Nunn’s vote to extend ACA subsidies alongside his support for expanding federal biofuel mandates to assist local commodity markets and capping out-of-state data center tax breaks to prevent electricity rate spikes. However, critics argue Nunn’s rhetoric on tackling inflation is also seemingly at odds with his legislative voting record. Nunn voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill which cut funding for housing assistance, food programs and restructured Medicaid, which opponents argue contributed to rural clinic closures.
Voters will determine the outcome of Iowa’s 3rd district on Nov. 3, which is Election Day.
