WASHINGTON — With the drama surrounding the state's presidential caucuses far in the rearview mirror, Iowa voters now turn to primaries on Tuesday for the narrowly divided U.S. House as well as the Republican-controlled state legislature.
One race in the 3rd Congressional District may play a decisive role in determining which party will win control of the chamber in November. Competing for the Democratic nomination are Lanon Baccam, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official and Afghanistan war veteran, and Melissa Vine, a mental health counselor and leader of a nonprofit that supports women who have experienced trauma. They hope to unseat U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a first-term Republican who barely edged Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne in 2022. Nunn is unopposed for the GOP nomination.
Home to the state capital of Des Moines and much of the state's Democratic base, the 3rd District is the most competitive of the Iowa's four U.S. House seats. Voters there gave Republican then-President Donald Trump a slim advantage over Democratic challenger Joe Biden in 2020, 49.2% to 48.8%.
The Republican incumbents in the 1st and 4th Congressional Districts have both drawn primary challengers from their right flanks. In the 1st District in southeastern Iowa, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks faces David Pautsch, an advertising executive, former Army tuba player and Gold Star father. Miller-Meeks entered the final stretch of the primary campaign with nearly $1.9 million in the bank, compared with just slightly more than $6,000 for Pautsch. By mid-May, she had spent about $1.4 million on the race, nearly 50 times his spending. The winner will face former state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary. Miller-Meeks defeated Bohannan in the 2022 general election, 53% to 47%. Voters in the 1st District preferred Trump over Biden in 2020 by a margin of about 3 percentage points.
In the sprawling 4th Congressional District in western and northwestern Iowa, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra seeks a third term but first must overcome a challenge from Kevin Virgil, a former CIA officer and retired Army Ranger. Like Miller-Meeks, Feenstra also far surpasses his challenger in terms of fundraising. As of mid-May, Feenstra had spent $3.3 million on the race and had nearly $1.1 million in the bank. At that same point, Virgil had spent about $83,000 and had slightly more than $4,000 on hand. Virgil does have the endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican who represented the area for nearly 20 years but who lost his bid for a 10th term to Feenstra in the 2020 primary. The 4th District is the safest congressional seat for Iowa Republicans. Voters there backed Trump in 2020 with 62% of the vote, compared with 36% for Biden.
Further down the ballot are nearly two dozen contested primaries for the state legislature, mostly on the Republican side. Half of the 50 state Senate seats and all 100 state House seats are up for election in November. Republicans have a lock on Iowa's state government, with a Republican governor, a supermajority in the state Senate and a near-supermajority in the state House.
Here's a look at what to expect on Tuesday:
PRIMARY DAY