Cindy Axne fights to retain her seat against David Young in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District
Iowa's 3rd Congressional District is one of thirty districts won by President Trump in 2016 but is represented by a Democrat in Congress.
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- Rep. Cindy Axne previously defeated David Young in 2018 to represent Iowa's 3rd Congressional District.
- The district is one of 30 districts won by President Donald Trump in 2016 and is represented by a Democrat.
- Axne has raised $3.9 million, almost twice the amount of Young with $2 million raised.
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Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne aims to defeat former congressman David Young in a 2018 rematch to represent Iowa's 3rd congressional district.
The candidates
A native of Des Moines, Axne gained her seat in the House on a platform focusing on protecting public schooling, health insurance reform, and women's reproductive rights. Alongside Rep. Abby Finkenauer, Axne was the first women from Iowa to be join the House of Representatives.
Young, Axne's Republican opponent, previously represented Iowa's 3rd congressional district for two terms before being ousted by Axne in 2018. He supports creating a pathway for Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals, also known as dreamers, to gain citizenship. Young is also campaigning on a platform which includes student loan forgiveness to recent graduates who work in underserved communities.
The district
Iowa's 3rd congressional district is located in the southwest region of the state. The district includes the most populous city and capital of Iowa, Des Moines. According to Ballotpedia, the district includes a selection of pivot counties, or counties which supported President Obama in 2008 and 2012 which went on to support President Trump in 2016.
The district as a whole went from voting for Obama by a margin of four percentage points in 2012 to voting for Trump by 3.5 points in 2016, according to the Daily Kos.
The money race
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Axne has raised about $3.9 million, close to double that of her opponent Young who has raised approximately $2 million. Young, however, has the momentum as he raised $544,000 in the second quarter of 2020 – $78,000 more than the incumbent, Axne, according to the Omaha-World Herald.
What experts say
The race between Axne and Young is rated as a "tossup" by Inside Elections and the Cook Political Report. The election is also rated as "leans Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.