Iowa's 3rd congressional district

Iowa's 3rd congressional district since January 3, 2013

Representative

Cindy Axne
D–West Des Moines

Distribution

73.07% urban
26.93% rural

Population (2018 est.)

843,598

Median income

$66,630^[1]

Ethnicity

83% white^[2]
7% Hispanic
4% black
3% Asian
2% other
0% Native American

Cook PVI

R+1^[3]

Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwest quadrant, roughly an area including Des Moines to the borders with Nebraska and Missouri.

From 2003 to 2013 it encompassed Des Moines (on the western end) to the western outskirts of the metropolitan area of Cedar Falls and Waterloo (on the northeastern end) to the western outskirts of the Cedar Rapids area (on the eastern end) and to Lucas County and Monroe County (on the southern end).

The district has been represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Cindy Axne since 2019.

Presidential voting since 2000

Election results from presidential races:

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	Gore 49% – Bush 48%
2004	President	Bush 50% – Kerry 50%
2008	President	Obama 54% – McCain 44%
2012	President	Obama 51% – Romney 47%
2016	President	Trump 48% – Clinton 45%

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Years	Congress	Electoral history
District created		March 4, 1863
William B. Allison	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1871	38th 39th 40th 41st	[data unknown/missing]
William G. Donnan	Republican	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	42nd 43rd	[data unknown/missing]
Lucien L. Ainsworth	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	[data unknown/missing]
Theodore W. Burdick	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879	45th	[data unknown/missing]
Thomas Updegraff	Republican	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883	46th 47th	[data unknown/missing]
David B. Henderson	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1903	48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th	[data unknown/missing]
Benjamin P. Birdsall	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1909	58th 59th 60th	[data unknown/missing]
Charles E. Pickett	Republican	March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1913	61st 62nd	[data unknown/missing]
Maurice Connolly	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	[data unknown/missing]
Burton E. Sweet	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923	64th 65th 66th 67th	[data unknown/missing]
Thomas J. B. Robinson	Republican	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	[data unknown/missing]
Albert C. Willford	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	[data unknown/missing]
John W. Gwynne	Republican	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1949	74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th	[data unknown/missing]
Harold R. Gross	Republican	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1975	81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd	[data unknown/missing]
Chuck Grassley	Republican	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981	94th 95th 96th	[data unknown/missing]
T. Cooper Evans	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987	97th 98th 99th	[data unknown/missing]
David R. Nagle	Democratic	January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993	100th 101st 102nd	[data unknown/missing]
Jim R. Lightfoot	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	103rd 104th	Redistricted from the 5th district.
Leonard Boswell	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2013	105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th	[data unknown/missing]
Tom Latham	Republican	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015	113th	Redistricted from the 4th district.
David Young	Republican	January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2019	114th 115th	Lost re-election.
Cindy Axne	Democratic	January 3, 2019 - Present	116th	Elected in 2018.

Recent election results

Year^[4]	Party affiliation	Winner	Number of votes	Party affiliation	Loser	Number of votes	Percentage of votes
1920	Republican	Burton E. Sweet	67,859	Farmer-Labor	Roy Jacobs	1,974	97% – 3%
1922	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	34,518	Democrat	Fred P. Hageman	24,304	58% – 41%
1924	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	54,921	Democrat	Willis N. Birdsall	25,215	69% – 31%
1926	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	32,180	Democrat	Ellis E. Wilson	13,696	70% – 30%
1928	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	60,025	Democrat	Leo. F. Tierney	38,469	61% – 39%
1930	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	27,098	Democrat	W. L. Beecher	15,908	63% – 37%
1932	Democrat	Albert C. Willford	48,939	Republican	Thomas J. B. Robinson	47,776	51% – 49%
1934	Republican	John W. Gwynne	42,063	Democrat	Albert C. Willford	35,159	51% – 43%
1936	Republican	John W. Gwynne	53,928	Democrat	Albert C. Willford	47,391	52% – 46%
1938	Republican	John W. Gwynne	45,541	Democrat	W. F. Hayes	30,158	60% – 40%
1940	Republican	John W. Gwynne	65,425	Democrat	Ernest J. Seemann	43,709	60% – 40%
1942	Republican	John W. Gwynne	54,124	Democrat	William D. Kearney	35,065	61% – 39%
1944	Republican	John W. Gwynne	74,901	Democrat	William D. Kearney	56,985	58% – 42%
1946	Republican	John W. Gwynne	48,346	Democrat	Dan J. P. Ryan	29,661	62% – 38%
1948	Republican	H. R. Gross	78,838	Democrat	Dan J. P. Ryan	56,002	58% – 41%
1950	Republican	H. R. Gross	73,490	Democrat	James O. Babcock	40,786	64% – 36%
1952	Republican	H. R. Gross	109,992	Democrat	George R. Laub	56,871	66% – 34%
1954	Republican	H. R. Gross	68,307	Democrat	George R. Laub	41,622	62% – 38%
1956	Republican	H. R. Gross	97,590	Democrat	Michael Micich	69,076	59% – 41%
1958	Republican	H. R. Gross	61,920	Democrat	Michael Micich	53,467	54% – 46%
1960	Republican	H. R. Gross	99,046	Democrat	Edward J. Gallagher, Jr.	76,837	56% – 44%
1962	Republican	H. R. Gross	66,337	Democrat	Neel F. Hill	50,580	57% – 43%
1964	Republican	H. R. Gross	83,455	Democrat	Stephen M. Peterson	83,036	50.1% – 49.9%
1966	Republican	H. R. Gross	79,343	Democrat	L. A. Pat Touchae	48,530	62% – 38%
1968	Republican	H. R. Gross	101,839	Democrat	John E. Van Eschen	57,164	64% – 36%
1970	Republican	H. R. Gross	66,087	Democrat	Lyle D. Taylor	45,958	59% – 41%
1972	Republican	H. R. Gross	109,113	Democrat	Lyle D. Taylor	86,848	56% – 44%
1974	Republican	Charles E. Grassley	77,468	Democrat	Stephen J. Rapp	74,859	51% – 49%
1976	Republican	Charles E. Grassley	117,957	Democrat	Stephen J. Rapp	90,981	56% – 44%
1978	Republican	Charles E. Grassley	103,659	Democrat	John Knudson	34,880	75% – 25%
1980	Republican	Cooper Evans	107,869	Democrat	Lynn G. Cutler	101,735	51% – 48%
1982	Republican	Cooper Evans	104,072	Democrat	Lynn G. Cutler	83,581	55% – 45%
1984	Republican	Cooper Evans	133,737	Democrat	Joe Johnston	86,574	61% – 39%
1986	Democrat	David R. Nagle	83,504	Republican	John McIntee	69,386	55% – 45%
1988	Democrat	David R. Nagle	129,204	Republican	Donald B. Redfern	74,682	63% – 37%
1990	Democrat	David R. Nagle	100,947	N/A	No Opponent	833	99% – 1%
1992	Republican	Jim Ross Lightfoot	125,931	Democrat	Elaine Baxter	121,063	49% – 47%
1994	Republican	Jim Ross Lightfoot	111,862	Democrat	Elaine Baxter	79,310	58% – 41%
1996	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	115,914	Republican	Mike Mahaffey	111,895	49% – 48%
1998	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	107,947	Republican	Larry McKibben	78,063	57% – 41%
2000	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	156,327	Republican	Jay Marcus	83,810	63% – 34%
2002	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	115,367	Republican	Stan Thompson	97,285	53% – 45%
2004	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	168,007	Republican	Stan Thompson	136,099	55% – 45%
2006	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	114,689	Republican	Jeff Lamberti	103,182	52% – 47%
2008	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	175,423	Republican	Kim Schmett	131,524	56% – 42%
2010	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	122,147	Republican	Brad Zaun	111,925	50% – 46%
2012	Republican	Tom Latham	202,000	Democrat	Leonard L. Boswell	168,632	51% – 42%
2014	Republican	David Young	148,814	Democrat	Staci Appel	119,109	52% – 42%
2016	Republican	David Young	208,598	Democrat	Jim Mowrer	155,002	53% – 40%
2018	Democrat	Cindy Axne	169,888	Republican	David Young	164,667	49% – 47%

2002

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2002)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	115,367	53.41
	Republican	Stan Thompson	97,285	45.04
	Libertarian	Jeffrey J. Smith	2,689	1.25
	Socialist Workers	Edwin B. Fruit	569	0.26
	No party	Others	75	0.04
Total votes			215,985	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2004

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2004)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	168,007	55.21
	Republican	Stan Thompson	136,009	44.72
	No party	Others	213	0.07
Total votes			304,229	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2006

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2006)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	115,769	51.85
	Republican	Jeff Lamberti	103,722	46.45
	Socialist Workers	Helen Meyers	3,591	1.61
	No party	Others	205	0.09
Total votes			223,287	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2008

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2008)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	176,904	56.31
	Republican	Kim Schmett	132,136	42.06
	Socialist Workers	Frank Forrestal	4,599	1.46
	No party	Others	521	0.17
Total votes			314,160	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2010

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2010)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	122,147	50.73
	Republican	Brad Zaun	111,925	46.49
	Socialist Workers	Rebecca Williamson	6,258	2.60
	No party	Others	426	0.18
Total votes			240,756	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2012

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2012)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Latham*	202,000	50.56
	Democratic	Leonard Boswell*	168,632	42.20
	Independent	Scott G. Batcher	9,352	2.34
	Socialist Workers	David Rosenfeld	6,286	1.57
	No party	Others	572	0.14
Total votes			399,561	100.00
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic

2014

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2014)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Young	148,814	52.8
	Democratic	Staci Appel	119,109	42.2
	Libertarian	Edward Wright	9,054	3.2
	No party preference	Bryan Jack Holder	4,360	1.5
	Write-ins		729	0.3
Total votes			282,066	100
	Republican hold

2016

Map showing the results of the 2016 election in Iowa's 3rd congressional district by county

Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election (2016)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Young*	208,598	53.45
	Democratic	Jim Mowrer	155,002	39.71
	Libertarian	Bryan Jack Holder	15,372	3.94
	Nominated by Petition	Claudia Addy	6,348	1.63
	Nominated by Petition	Joe Grandanette	4,518	1.16
		Write-ins	449	0.12
Total votes			390,287	100.00
	Republican hold

2018

U.S. House election, 2018:^[5] Iowa District 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Cindy Axne	169,888	49.0	+9.29
	Republican	David Young*	164,667	47.49	-5.96
	Libertarian	Bryan Jack Holder	7,005	2.02	-1.92
	Legal Marijuana Now	Mark Elworth Jr.	1,906	0.55	+0.55
	Green	Paul Knupp	1,795	0.52	+0.52
	Independent	Joe Grandanette	1,271	0.37	-0.79
	Write-ins		178	0.05	+0.00
Plurality			5,221	1.51
Turnout			346,710	100
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	+15.25

Historical district boundaries

2003–2013

References

^ https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=19&cd=03
^ https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US1903-congressional-district-3-ia/
^ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
^ "Election Statistics,". 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-07-25.
^ "Iowa General Election 2018". Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved November 11, 2018.

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Maine's 1st congressional district	Home district of the Speaker of the House December 4, 1899 – March 4, 1903	Succeeded by Illinois's 18th congressional district

Iowa's congressional districts

Current districts: 1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th

All districts: Territory; At-large; 1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th; 6th; 7th; 8th; 9th; 10th; 11th

The at-large and 5th–11th districts are obsolete.

See also: Iowa's past and present representatives, senators, and delegations

Recent U.S. House elections in Iowa: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020

This page was last edited on 22 July 2020, at 18:45