U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn is facing Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam in the 2024 election for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. (Photos by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch, photo illustration via Canva)
U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn is pushing back against claims from his Democratic opponent, Lanon Baccam, that his anti-abortion stances would impact access to in-vitro fertilization treatments and contraceptives.
An ad released by Baccam’s campaign this week features footage from a primary debate during the 2022 election cycle. Nunn, the Republican representing Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, was asked alongside other candidates if they supported a full abortion ban without exceptions. The video shows Nunn raising his hand, endorsing the ban.
“That’s all you need to know,” about Nunn’s view on abortion rights, the ad states.
But Nunn’s campaign is arguing that the ad is “intentionally misleading Iowans about where Zach Nunn stands” on the subject of reproductive health care access.
“Here are the facts: Zach has always been clear on where he stands,” Kendyl Parker, Nunn’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “He’s pro-life, voted for exceptions, including life of mother, rape, and incest, and fought for access to contraceptives and IVF. He opposes a federal ban and believes this policy should be left up to the states. In Washington, he is fighting for Iowa families against extremes on both sides of the aisle.”
Nunn supported the 2018 so-called “fetal heartbeat” law as a state legislator in 2018 — a proposal similar to the 2023 law that was recently allowed to take effect. Both measures prohibit most abortions after cardiac activity is detectable, which can occur as early as six weeks of gestation, with narrow exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and when the procedure was necessary to save the life of the pregnant person.
Reproductive care access a top issue ahead of 2024 election
Other ads from the Baccam campaign this campaign cycle also highlight abortion access — as well as access to other reproductive health care — as a top issue.
“Women’s reproductive rights are under attack, from IVF to birth control to emergency care,” Baccam says in an August ad. “Nothing seems off the table to Zach Nunn or his colleagues.”
Recent issues on subjects like IVF have also risen in prominence this year after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos count as children under a state “unborn personhood” law. A measure containing “personhood” language passed the Iowa House in the 2024 legislative session, but did not advance in the Senate.
That legislation would have raised penalties for the nonconsensual ending of a pregnancy while changing language on these crimes from references to the termination of a pregnancy to the “death of an unborn person.”
A similar measure, introduced by Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, also failed in the U.S. Senate in June.
Reproductive care is predicted to be a salient issue in the 2024 election, as more states have moved to implement state abortion laws after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This was an issue some election analysts said was a deciding factor for Democrats faring better than expected in the 2022 midterms in several states.
But in Iowa, Republicans saw major wins during the 2022 midterm elections, including the election of Nunn, making Iowa’s congressional delegation entirely GOP, as well as victories in statewide elected offices and state legislative races.
Chris Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa, said one reason Iowa Democrats didn’t fare better in 2022 was because Republicans downplayed discussion of abortion. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who was reelected in 2022, and other Republicans said they did not plan to talk about abortion or address the issue further until the Iowa Supreme Court made a decision about the six-week abortion ban.
But headed into 2024, “a lot has happened with abortion rights” in Iowa, Larimer said, which could have a major impact on close elections.
“I think it has the potential to have a significant effect on congressional races in Iowa, particularly the 3rd Congressional District and the 1st Congressional District that were already expected to be close,” Larimer said. “… If reproductive rights are front and center or a major concern, and you have, you know, national mobilization efforts as a result of that, and with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket now, who’s talked about that as a big part of her campaign — if they’re able to make that connection to Iowa, you could see increase in mobilization among voters where that is a top concern.”
Outside investments showcase expected competitive race
The 3rd Congressional District race is expected to be tight in 2024, with both national Democrats and Republicans investing resources into Nunn’s and Baccam’s campaigns in recent months. The Congressional Leadership Fund, U.S. House Republicans’ campaign arm, announced reserving $2.7 million in ad reservations for the Des Moines media market as part of a $141 million national investment in competitive races.
“This is a significant early down payment on Republicans holding the House Majority,” CLF President Dan Conston said in a news release. “The map is undoubtedly small, and we are in a dogfight. Yet we are in a stronger position than the mainstream narrative suggests, with a promising political environment and standout Members and candidates in the toughest races.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, supporting U.S. House Democrats, also announced making $2.5 million in ad buys for Iowa races they say pit Democratic challengers against “vulnerable” Republicans in August. The effort focuses on the 3rd District as well as Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the incumbent Republican, faces Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan.