West Des Moines, Iowa — Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, will seek re-election for a third term in the U.S House in Iowa’s new third congressional district.
Axne, who had been considering a run for governor, says she took some time to make the decision because she wanted to assess where she could “make the most impact” for Iowa.
Axne defeated incumbent Republican Congressman David Young in 2018 and she won a 2020 rematch against Young.
Commercials critical of Axne have already begun airing in Axne’s current district. Axne says that shows she’s in the number one targeted race for Republicans in 2022.
Axne made her announcement during this Friday morning’s taping of Iowa Press on Iowa PBS. Axne’s decision follows this past week’s announcement from Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who — like Axne — lives in the new third congressional district, but will seek reelection in the new first district. Four other Republicans have announced they intend to run in the new THIRD district. Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann says Axne is a big-government Democrat who has spent the past two years cozying up to Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. Axne endorsed Biden before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses and she says she’d be happy to have Biden campaign for her in Iowa in 2022.
Axne is the only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation. She’s also among the few House Democrats who won last year in a district that President Trump carried. Her margin of victory in 2020 was about one-and-a-half percent.
