DES Moines, Iowa — Republican Zach Nunn is running for re-election in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. It’s one of the most competitive House races in the country, and rightly so Cook Political Reportthe race is a “Republican toss-up.”

Rep. Nunn won the 2022 midterm by about 2,000 votes.

Rep. Nunn is a combat veteran and sixth-generation Iowan. He served in the Iowa House and Senate. He currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Congressional Executive Committee on China.

“We’ve worked hard, not only to work across the aisle, but to deliver meaningful results for people, and we’ve done that on the economy,” Rep. Nunn said. “We’ve done it on energy independence, and we’re doing it on things we think are really important, like securing the border.”

With a century-old farm himself, Rep. Nunn said he is working to pass a new farm bill, which hasn’t been done since 2018. He said the House passed a committee on the bill, but the Senate it blocked progress.

“Now the challenge is, obviously, we need the Senate to come to the table and put their ideas down,” Rep. Nunn said. “They refused to even have a debate about it and I think that’s dangerous. So while we passed it in the House, we still need the Senate to sign off on it.”

“First, let’s take care of crop insurance to help family farmers,” Rep. Nunn said. “Secondly, let’s make sure we have the next generation of farmers available, both young and beginning farmers, tax credits for both farmers and veterans.”

Border security is also another big issue for Rep. Nunn. He supported the second House Resolution, specifically, its stay in Mexico policy and the construction of the wall.

“In my first few days alone, I have passed the most comprehensive border security in American history, HR Two,” said Rep. Nunn. “It passed, but it was never taken up by the Democrats in the Senate, and that’s unfortunate. The challenge here is that I have an opponent who can’t even call on the President to do three things that would help today, he remains in Mexico, through catch and release, which has allowed violent criminals into our country and tragically, we’ve had far too many deaths as a result of this, and we’re done building a real border security wall and the technology to do it. .”

Nunn’s Democratic opponent, Lanon Baccam, criticized House Republicans for not taking up the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill. Rep. Nunn said there were aspects of the bill he would have supported, but not all.

“Let’s be very specific about what is in the bill that I would have supported,” Rep. Nunn said. “Supporting Customs and Border Patrol, one, which we already had in HR two. It would reinstate the things we supported, like ending catch and release, something the president could do today. If my opponent (Baccam) agrees to this. , then call the president to do so. Help with legal immigration. But what the bill has done, I think it’s very bad, they say 5,000 people get amnesty every day.

An ad published by Baccam shows a clip from an earlier midterm debate in which Rep. Nunn raised his hand when asked if he would support banning abortion without exceptions. However, Rep. Nunn said he supports exceptions, including when the mother’s life is in danger, rape and incest. During his time in the Iowa legislature, he voted in favor of legislation similar to the current abortion ban in place here in Iowa. Rep. Nunn said he believes the issue should be left up to the states and will not support a federal ban on abortion.

“Out-of-state spending has poured millions of dollars into cutting a three-second portion of a debate,” Rep. Nunn said. “They lied to us, and as Iowans, I find that very frustrating and they shouldn’t scare women or families with false information. So, I want to start by just saying that I want to be clear and transparent about my position. I’m pro-life, but I’ve always voted for and supported exceptions, exceptions for maternal health, rape and incest.”

He also clarified why he thought the ad was misleading.

“If you watch the next two seconds of that clip, I call the moderator over there and say, ‘hey, let’s have a conversation about this,'” Rep. Nunn said. “My views on our legislation are very important to Iowans.”

A new DCCC ad also claimed that “Nunn has voted against Social Security and Medicare twenty-five times” and wants to raise the retirement age. When asked, Rep. Nunn disputed those claims.

“No, and let’s be very clear about it,” Rep. Nunn said. “This is another multi-million dollar campaign bought by someone who is straight up lying to Iowans. It’s scary. It is false. It is wrong. I have advocated and voted multiple times to ensure that Social Security and Medicare are fully funded. Iowans invested their lives. savings, their hard work to be able to ensure that these programs are available to them, they have earned them. We have to make sure we respect them.”

You can watch Rep. Nunn’s full interview below.

You can also follow the write-in libertarian candidate Marco Battaglia’s full interview here and Democrat Lanon Baccam is here.