Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun (R) is joining the race against Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) in the Des Moines-area 3rd district.

Zaun, who is serving his second four-year term in the state Senate, said in an interview Thursday afternoon that he would make a formal announcement of his political plans after Dec. 1.

“My intentions are to run against Leonard Boswell,— said Zaun, a vice president at the commercial real estate firm R&R Realty Group.

Zaun, a former mayor of the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, said that Boswell is “out of touch— with his constituents. He said Boswell expressed qualms about a cap-and-trade energy bill and indecision about a health care bill but then voted for both measures.

“He says one thing in Iowa and he does the opposite in Washington, D.C.,— Zaun said.

Zaun said he’s received encouragement to run from some Members of Congress and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Jim Gibbons, a former wrestling coach at Iowa State University, is also getting into the race against Boswell.

Gibbons left coaching in 1992 and is now a financial adviser and television analyst.

Boswell has been somewhat of a perennial target for Republicans because he represents a swing district that only marginally favors Democrats. His lowest re-election margin came in 2006, when he won with just 52 percent of the vote against state Senate Co-President Jeff Lamberti. The NRCC made the race a top priority that cycle, but the political climate wasn’t in its favor.

“Each year Republicans claim they have Congressman Boswell in their sights, and each year they never live up to their own hype — there is no reason to believe this time will be any different,— Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.