Wed. Nov 6th, 2024

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and his children accompanied his wife, Kelly Nunn, to cast her ballot at the Bondurant Christian Church in Bondurant on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn has won reelection in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, staving off Democratic opponent Lanon Baccam’s bid with 51% of vote Tuesday, the Associated Press has projected.

Baccam earned roughly 49% of votes cast in unofficial results, with the race called by the AP at 11:18 p.m. with 96% of votes counted.

In his victory speech at the Hilton Downtown Des Moines, Nunn said his win showed that Iowans supported his approach to bringing Iowa “common sense solutions” to Washington D.C. He also celebrated his supporters, family and the voters who helped him earn a second term — and secure a crucial seat in the U.S. House in 2025.

“We didn’t do this alone — every Iowan who took the time to have their voice heard, who fought this election up and down the ballot, Iowa has had this huge response and is going to change the trajectory of this country,” Nunn said.

Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, encompassing much of the Des Moines metropolitan area and southwest Iowa including cities like Ottumwa and Red Oak, has been an election to watch for many interested in control of the U.S. House heading into the 2024 election. The 3rd District – as well as Iowa’s 1st District – were both labeled as “tossups” by forecaster Cook Political Report ahead of the election – a designation given to just 22 races nationwide that were most likely to have an impact on which party gains a majority in the chamber.

Though the 1st District also received significant attention, Democrats invested heavily in Baccam’s campaign and attacks against Nunn, the one-term incumbent, seeing the 3rd District as an area to pick up a Democratic seat in Iowa. Nunn defeated former U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne in the 2022 midterms, making the state’s federal delegation entirely Republican.

Iowa’s federal delegation stayed all red in the 2024 general election, with all incumbent U.S. representatives winning their reelection bids in the state.

Democrat Lanon Baccam, a candidate for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, and his daughter, Freya, went to vote on Election Day at Plymouth United Church of Christ in Des Moines Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Both Baccam and Nunn showed up to voting locations with family members on Election Day. Baccam, who waited in line alongside his daughter Freya to cast his ballot early Tuesday, said while results were not yet in, he felt his campaign was in a “strong position” for the election.

“At this point it’s out of our hands,” Baccam said. “It’s up to the voters. But we believe the folks that are supporting our campaign are going to be there.”

Though Nunn voted early in the 2024 election, the congressman and his children joined his wife, Kelly, to vote on Election Day. Nunn said that he was preparing to spend the day encouraging and assisting people to go to the polls – and reminding people that their vote will be crucial in the competitive election.

“This is an election that’s between two very different ideas: one of economic growth, one of success proven here in Iowa, one of securing our country, or one that I think does the opposite of that,” Nunn said. “I think we’ve had a really strong record of representing Iowa, we’d be honored to get to serve again in Congress.”

Nunn’s election in 2022 came during a year of big wins for Iowa Republicans, who also gained control of all but one statewide elected office and a majority in the Iowa House and supermajority in the state Senate. However, Nunn emphasized on the campaign trail for 2024 that he still believed the 3rd District was a “swing district” where he faced tough election odds.

With that understanding, Nunn focused much of his campaign trail talks on his moderate bona fides, speaking about being ranked one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and emphasizing his work across the aisle as a representative. At the same time, he also promised his commitment to GOP policies on issues like U.S. border security and national security.

His opponent highlighted another part of his track record on the campaign trail – abortion policy. Baccam and supporters ran an aggressive ad campaign attacking Nunn for raising his hand during a 2022 GOP 3rd District primary debate that he would support a full abortion ban with no exceptions, as well as pointing to his support as a state legislator for a version of Iowa’s recently implemented six-week abortion ban.

Nunn and GOP supporters pushed back with their own advertising campaign depicting Baccam as dishonest about his stances and history, pointing to him deleting tweets supporting President Joe Biden and criticizing former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential candidate.

Fundraising – and spending – were high in the 3rd District race this election cycle. Nunn raised nearly $5.2 million and spent $4.5 million during the election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission quarterly reports for the period ending in Oct. 16. Baccam raised nearly $4.8 million and spent $4.5 million. Nearly $16 million was poured into the race from outside groups like super PACs, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.

Ren Culliney, 25, voted to support Baccam on Election Day. While they were nervous about Democrats’ chances in Iowa, Culliney said the many “pro-choice, anti-Nunn” signs around the Des Moines metro and “visible, audible support” they heard for Baccam and other Democrats kept them hopeful while awaiting results.

The Des Moines resident said they felt particularly optimistic about more women voters being motivated to turn out for Baccam, as well as for Vice President Kamala Harris, because of the issue of abortion.

“I feel like the (Iowa) ban going through had a lot of people really – even the ones that don’t support like, all abortions – say, ‘even that’s too restrictive,’ you know, ‘that is too much of a step of infringing on people’s bodies.’”

Baccam worked for Biden’s 2020 Iowa campaign, in addition to recently serving as deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. The Democrat said his interest in working in government, as well as joining the military after 9/11, came from his experience growing up in a Tai Dam refugee community in Mount Pleasant.

Nunn and Baccam share a military service as a common point in their backgrounds. Nunn is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who was deployed to the Middle East three times, while Baccam is Iowa National Guard veteran who deployed to Afghanistan. Both say their experience in the military played a large role in pursuing public office.

Nunn gave a “salute” to Baccam in his victory speech, saying that his opponent served the U.S. honorably. He said that while the race is over, he was prepared for the work in Congress on the horizon.

“It’s about recognizing that we have a mission ahead of us, and our mission is to serve this district the best we can,” Nunn said.

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