Nunn, Hinson and Feenstra win re-election as Iowa Republicans try to retain all four House seats

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Incumbent Republican Zach Nunn fended off a strong challenge from Democrat Lanon Baccam on Tuesday as Iowa Republicans sought to retain all four of the state's congressional seats.

Nunn narrowly defeated Baccam in Iowa's 3rd District, which includes much of the Des Moines metropolitan area. Republican incumbents Ashley Hinson in the 2nd district and Randy Feenstra in the 4th District also won re-election, with both winning convincingly.

A rematch between incumbents will take place in the 1st District early Wednesday Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohannan stayed too early to call.

As with other races in the House, abortion was a key issue in the 3rd District. Baccam said he would vote to restore national abortion rights, which ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2022's Roe v. Wade picked up. Nunn said that while he opposes abortion rights and voted for strict abortion restrictions in Iowa, no statewide law supports abortion bans.

Both candidates pledged to support efforts to make Congress less dysfunctional and more focused on solving problems. Nunn also stressed the need to reduce illegal border crossings, and Baccam called for improving the economy and creating more jobs for the middle class.

Both Nunn and Baccam have military backgrounds, as Baccam served in the Iowa National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan. Nunn served as an Air Force pilot and had three deployments to the Middle East. In June he was promoted to colonel in the Air Force.

Hinson defeated Democrat Sarah Corkery in the 2nd District. Hinsona former KCRG-TV news anchor, said her main concern was strengthening the country's southern border.

Feenstra won election to a third term in the sprawling 4th District, which consists of 36 of Iowa's 99 counties, defeating Democrat Ryan Melton. Republicans have a large lead among registered voters in the 4th District and typically win general elections by large margins.

In the 1st District, Miller-Meeks is seeking her third term in the U.S. House as she faces the same Democrat she defeated in 2022. In that race, Miller-Meeks led Bohannan by about 7 percentage points — a far greater margin than she had six votes ahead in 2020 over Democrat Rita Hart.

In her campaign, Bohannan, a law professor and former lawmaker at the University of Iowa, emphasized her support for abortion rights at a time when Republicans in Iowa have changed the law to ban abortion in most cases. She also called for a reduction in the cost of a range of goods and services, including food, gas and housing.

Miller-Meeks, a former ophthalmologist, opposes abortion rights and supported a bill that would have imposed a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks, which would have allowed states to impose even stricter limits. She has also said she wants to help reduce inflation and stimulate the economy, and she supports lowering the prices of prescription drugs and over-the-counter oral contraceptives.