This Des Moines district has frustrated Democrats before, but it's exactly the kind of seat that will decide the House. Barack Obama won it by four points in 2012, but it voted for President Trump 48 percent to 45 percent in 2016. GOP Rep. David Young hasn't cracked 54 percent since winning the seat in 2014, and the former chief of staff to Sen. Chuck Grassley lacks a truly independent political brand. Last year, he voted for the AHCA and the GOP tax bill.
However, Democrats took a while to sort themselves out here this cycle. Digital design businesswoman Cindy Axne wasn't her party's front-runner in 2017, but caught a break this March when real estate businesswoman Theresa Greenfield dropped out of the race after discovering her staff forged ballot petitions. In June, Axne won the Democratic primary against two well-funded men with an impressive 58 percent of the vote.
Axne grew up on the south side of Des Moines, where her height served her well on the high school basketball team. She graduated from the University of Iowa, earned
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