Zach Nunn
Zach Nunn, a Republican and Air Force officer who has represented Iowa's 3rd congressional district since 2023, seeks re-election in 2026 against Democratic state senator Sarah Trone Garriott.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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- Born
- May 4, 1979
- Birthplace
- Story City, Iowa
- Education
- Southeast Polk High School (1998)
Drake University (Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations, 2002)
Air Command and Staff College, Air University (Master of Science in military operational art and science, 2004)
Selwyn College, Cambridge (Master of Studies in international security, 2007)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Zach Nunn was born Zachary Martin Nunn on May 4, 1979, in Story City, Iowa, to Curtis and Luann Nunn, and he was raised in Altoona. He graduated from Southeast Polk High School in 1998 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations from Drake University in 2002.
He later received a Master of Science in military operational art and science from the Air Command and Staff College at Air University in 2004 and a Master of Studies in international security from Selwyn College, Cambridge, in 2007.
Nunn married Kelly in 2013; they have two children together and adopted two sisters they had previously fostered, and Kelly has two children from her first marriage.
Career
Zach Nunn worked on the research staff of Sir Peter Bottomley, a member of the British House of Commons, in 2002 and on U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley's legislative staff in 2004.
He has served in the United States Air Force and the Iowa Air National Guard since 2004, commanded the 233rd Intelligence Squadron as a lieutenant colonel in 2021, and was promoted to colonel on June 11, 2024.
He was also director of cybersecurity policy for the United States National Security Council during the Obama administration and worked as a cybersecurity consultant.
Nunn served in the Iowa House of Representatives for the 30th district from 2015 to 2019 and in the Iowa Senate for the 15th district from 2019 to 2023.
In 2022 Nunn defeated Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne in the 3rd district, 50.3% to 49.6%, and in 2024 he won a second term over Democrat Lanon Baccam. In the 119th Congress he serves on the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Financial Services, and the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and he co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.
2026 race
Iowa's 3rd congressional district is based in southwestern Iowa and includes the city of Des Moines. Zach Nunn, who was re-elected with 51.8% of the vote in 2024, was the only candidate in the 2026 Republican primary and received 48,309 votes. In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator from the 14th district since 2021, who was also the only candidate in her party's primary.