“When Iowans have money, they invest that locally,” says Nunn, a Republican running against Axne. Iowa State Senator Zach Nunn points to a 2018 tax cut package the state legislature passed that slashed Iowans’ state tax bills by an average of $300, and a bill that just passed both state government chambers that will create a single income tax bracket for everybody in the state, decrease the corporate tax rate, and eliminate retirement income taxes. Republicans are trying to capitalize on the political vulnerability, decrying Democrats in Congress for what they consider to be reckless spending that they say is fueling inflation, while also touting constituent cost-saving efforts coming out of Iowa’s Republican-led state legislature. “ is only going to put an exclamation point on an already serious issue,” says Goehl. “Even further than they used to, because so much industry has shut down.”Īdd in a war between Ukraine and Russia-the latter country supplied roughly 7% of America’s petroleum imports in 2020-and the fuel prices that concerned the constituent in Ankeny are likely to swell further, along with the barriers vulnerable Democrats will face at the ballot box this fall. “Most rural and small town folks drive really far for work,” says George Goehl, the outgoing director of People’s Action, a progressive grassroots organizing network. It has hit the Midwest the hardest given the region’s distance from ocean ports, and among the items most impacted by the price increases is something that constituents in Axne’s district need a lot of: gas. Inflation, which has increased nationally at its fastest clip since 1982, is polling as an important issue to voters: 55% of voters polled by CNN and SSRS in January and February said inflation will be extremely important to their congressional vote this year. Her district voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, it was held by a Republican from 20, and it is now rated by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report as a toss-up. As Democrats in both congressional chambers gear up for an election cycle pollsters predict may cost the party their narrow majorities, Axne appears particularly vulnerable. “I’m not going to be one that’s going to just sit there and say, ‘Oh, I bet, and God forbid I can’t ever change my mind.’”īut with the midterm elections just nine months away, Axne has to hope voters in Iowa’s third district haven’t changed their minds about her. We have got to take another route here.’ That’s why I heavily leaned into getting a supply chain again agenda going, forcing the hand of leadership of being really diligent about getting other members to work with me on having bills come to the floor,” Axne tells TIME. “A good leader should always be stepping up and saying, ‘Listen, things have changed. She’s releasing agendas geared towards addressing supply chain bottlenecks, joining working groups in Congress that aim to advance policy solutions to lower inflation, and conceding that rising prices are not so much a blip on the radar as they are a persistent problem that requires multifaceted legislative solutions. Now Axne has made combatting inflation a priority.
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