Zachary Nunn

Changes of heart for members of Congress are hard to believe

Josh Turek is an independent advocate for Iowans

Josh Turek grossly misrepresents Ashley Hinson’s record

When JD Vance talks about ‘crazies’ in Des Moines, who does he mean?

Zach Nunn squandered his chance to push accountability

Changes of heart for members of Congress are hard to believe

Hell froze over on Sept. 17. It must have, because Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, contrary to. their previous six votes to support President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, voted in favor of a war powers resolution demanding an end to this debacle. Rep. Ashley Hinson voted against the resolution but only four days later issued an X post calling for the “immediate and successful” end to the war. This timid deviation regarding Iran contradicts her history of subservience to President Donald Trump.

What has changed since Aug. 17, when all three of these profiles in courage proudly stood next to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the State Fair, and endorsed Trump’s inept conduct of the war? Simple: They’ve read the polls and are frantically trying to distance themselves from Trump’s abysmal approval ratings.

The occasional participation of Nunn, Miller-Meeks, and Hinson in bipartisan legislation on mom-and-apple-pie issues, and their recent flicker of independence on the Iran war, cannot conceal their slavish obedience to Trump’s demands on the issues he cares about. They are like a criminal defendant who claims at sentencing that he has found Jesus and should be excused for his crime. No judge would believe him; no voter should believe these three either.

Jim Whalen, Des Moines

Josh Turek is an independent advocate for Iowans

Josh Turek gets my vote for U.S. senator, because he is committed to shaping economic policies that benefit workers and the middle class, rather than billionaire campaign donors. He won't cut taxes for the rich and then pay for those cuts by cutting services Iowans depend on, like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and the U.S. Postal Service.

We can depend on Turek to fight to reform our broken healthcare system and to protect our environment, especially our air, food and water. He knows most regulations exist to protect people and that only those who care more about big corporations call them "burdensome" and dare to suggest rolling them back might be a "common-sense solution" for our economic problems. Cyclospora, measles, and plane crashes do not stimulate the economy.

In the wake of the new federal program for school vouchers, it is comforting to know that Turek has always been a strong supporter of public education and a vocal opponent of school vouchers.

The best thing about Turek is that, unlike his Republican opponent, he doesn't have to support the policies of the current administration, which have been a dismal failure and frequently unconstitutional, immoral and cruel.

Barbara Stone, Grinnell

Josh Turek grossly misrepresents Ashley Hinson’s record

KCRG-TV confirms the superior accuracy of claims supporting Republican Ashley Hinson, versus those for Democrat Josh Turek, in the campaign for U.S. Senate.

KCRG found that Hinson correctly stated that Turek was absent for 58.1% of his 2026 Iowa House floor votes. Only one Iowa House member out of 100 missed more votes than Turek.

Turek's team countered by adding up all of Hinson's floor and committee missed votes for six years and unfairly compared them to Turek’s missed floor votes for only 2026. When KCRG examined Ashley Hinson's 2026 U.S. House floor votes, they found she had missed only five of 283 votes. That is 1.1% of the votes, the second-lowest among 435 representatives.

Why would we promote a man to a higher position who doesn’t show for work at his present one?

KCRG found that an ad by Turek's supporters falsely claimed that Hinson’s vote for the Big Beautiful Bill “pushed 20 rural Iowa hospitals to the brink of closing.” That statistic came from a report authored before Hinson ever voted on the bill. An updated report claimed that eight Iowa rural hospitals are at risk of closure, but the risk was due to low private medical insurance payments. It had nothing to do with any vote by Hinson. KCRG also noted, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also included a $50 billion fund to support rural hospitals.”

Donald W. Bohlken, Indianola

When JD Vance talks about ‘crazies’ in Des Moines, who does he mean?

Vice President JD Vance, who was campaigning in Iowa on Sept. 18, stated: "This election is a referendum on common sense versus pure unadulterated crazy. Let’s send the crazy packing and get them out of Washington, D.C., and get them out of Des Moines.”

I wonder if Vance forgot what state he was campaigning in, as all six of Iowa's congressional delegation are Republican, and Iowa has had a Republican governor for 15 years and a Republican-led Senate and House for nine straight years.

What "crazies" does he want to leave DC and Iowa anyway? His own?

Connie Isaacson, Des Moines

Zach Nunn squandered his chance to push accountability

Iowans have a voice in whether or not we restrain Donald Trump and his administration during the next two years. To represent us in Congress, we can re-elect Republican Zach Nunn or replace him with Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott.

Trump has proved himself to be an enemy of democracy and the rule of law. His illegal Iran war has raised gas, diesel, fertilizer and grocery prices. His tariffs and trade wars have hammered Iowa agriculture. He and his cronies are raking in billions in the most corrupt administration in U.S. history. He slavishly appeases Vladimir Putin and withholds aid to Ukraine. Trump is the antithesis of what really makes America great.

Nunn has a yes man the whole time. Nunn has taken no meaningful action to restrain Trump or to hold him accountable for his lawlessness and corruption. His recent vote to stop the Iran war was welcome but way too little way too late. Unless Americans elect representatives like Sarah Trone Garriott, the next two years will be more of the same. Enough.

Jim Chrisinger, Ankeny