Zach Nunn sticks to phone sessions as Trone Garriott holds open town halls

A confrontation from July where U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) swatted at a Democratic tracker’s phone highlights a broader contrast in how Nunn and his Democratic challenger, Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, engage with voters and respond to questions about their records.

When a Democratic campaign tracker questioned Nunn about rural hospital closures, the Iowa Republican got physical and swatted at the tracker’s phone while it was recording video. Nunn then described the person walking with him as a constituent, though the person was NOTUS congressional reporter Reese Gorman, according to original reporting by MS NOW. The encounter came after Nunn had dismissed warnings about rural hospital closures as a “myth” the year prior in an interview with WHO13.

Nunn later acknowledged to MS NOW that his response to the tracker was inappropriate, saying, “This wasn’t my finest moment, I shouldn’t have responded this way, and I set a bad example.” But he also criticized political trackers as partisan operatives paid to harass lawmakers.

Nunn opts for telephone sessions over in-person events

His office says he has held more than 300 events and listening sessions since taking office, including mobile office hours and telephone sessions. In June, his office said a telephone session with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith reached more than 5,000 Iowans. Those formats offer ways for residents to listen to their representatives, though they do not necessarily provide the same opportunity to engage or challenge a lawmaker in an open public forum.

In September 2025, an event in Jefferson initially advertised as a community forum was changed to a private meeting, according to local reporting.

Trevor Holland, a Democratic organizer in the district, said frustration with elected officials crosses party lines. Residents, he said, can feel that their representatives do not understand the pressures they face in their daily lives.

“Does Zach Nunn work for President Trump, or does he work for us?” Holland asked.

Trone Garriott holds physical, open town halls

Trone Garriott’s campaign says she has held open town halls across all 21 counties in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Nunn’s office points to hundreds of events and telephone listening sessions, but he has not held an open, in-person public town hall during his time serving Iowans, according to local news reports. Their approaches raise questions about how accessible elected officials are to the people affected by their decisions.

The dispute over rural hospital closures is not just a policy debate. It is playing out in communities like Ottumwa, where patients are already dealing with the loss of a local clinic.

In 2010, Kerri Rupe was working as a nurse practitioner in Ottumwa when a 36-year-old woman with breast cancer came to her for help. The woman had no insurance or money for treatment and had three children. Rupe tried to find a way to get her care, even asking a surgeon friend to operate. The woman died about a year later, Rupe mentioned in Trone Garriot’s town hall.

More than a decade later, Rupe still thinks about her children.

“I’ve seen them,” Rupe said at a March health care roundtable in Ottumwa, a town with an estimated population of just over 25,000. “And every time I see them it breaks my heart.”

Rupe, now retired, joined residents and health care professionals at the roundtable with Trone Garriott to discuss the closure of MercyOne’s Ottumwa family medicine clinic.

Julie Lawrence, a former patient, said she had found a provider she hoped to keep for the rest of her life. After the clinic closed, she did not know where her medical records were or where to find another doctor.

“I have no idea where my medical records are right now,” Lawrence said.

Candidates on rural health care access

Nunn voted for the Republican-backed tax and spending law signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025, which includes substantial Medicaid reductions. In a July 2025 interview with WHO13, Nunn dismissed warnings about rural hospital closures, saying, “I think that the myth here is that rural hospitals are going to close down. That’s not the case.”

Trone Garriott has opposed the Medicaid changes and advocated protecting Medicaid and Medicare, strengthening the Affordable Care Act and pursuing a public option for health insurance. She has used community meetings to hear from residents about how health care access affects their families.

The Ottumwa clinic closed before the law’s Medicaid changes had fully taken effect, so its closure does not establish that the cuts caused it. But rural providers face other financial pressures. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform reported in July that 60% of small rural hospitals nationwide lost money delivering patient care in 2025. The organization identifies low payments from commercial insurers and Medicare Advantage plans as major contributors to those losses. Medicaid reductions could worsen existing financial strain, though the impact will vary by hospital and state.

Iowa also faces a significant cancer burden. The University of Iowa’s 2026 “Cancer in Iowa” report estimates that 21,700 residents will be diagnosed with cancer this year and about 6,400 will die from the disease. Iowa has the nation’s second-highest cancer incidence rate. Timely screening, diagnosis and continuing care are highly recommended for cancer treatment.

The candidates have also disputed debate scheduling, blaming each other for delays before agreeing to an Oct. 27 debate with KCCI. The dispute added another public disagreement over how voters can hear directly from the people seeking to represent them.

Both Nunn’s and Trone Garriott’s campaigns were contacted multiple times for comment. Neither campaign responded to Heartland Signal’s numerous requests.