Lanon Baccam hopes to be a first in the state of Iowa — a person of color who gets elected to Congress. He’s chosen the right district to make history, as Iowa’s 3rd district is the most evenly divided in the state. That doesn’t mean winning is guaranteed though! He’s going to have to work extremely diligently in order to succeed.
The demographics make his bid more difficult. This district is 78.8% white as of the 2020 Census. It is also rather rural, though this district has the Des Moines metro area which is the largest in the state. Finally the state has a LOT of white evangelical voters — the demographic group that favors the GOP the most.
The question is whether Lanon Baccam can overcome these handicaps and make history by beating Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s 3rd district.
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Rep. Zach Nunn is part of what I am calling the #MAGADozen. These Republicans in GOP-leaning swing districts are full-throated MAGA supporters and can be beaten. Lanon Baccam is one of the challengers I am fundraising for.
Lanon Baccam for Iowa-3
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What’s the Big Idea?
THIS RACE LEANS REPUBLICAN, with an R+3 PVI
This district has had Des Moines as an anchor for a couple of decades now. What counties are included (county splits are forbidden by the Iowa Constitution) vary depending upon population and the need to create competitive districts. The 3rd district is a classic swing seat that both parties have held in recent times.
Iowa has seen its Congressional clout whittled away over the decades as other states grow at a much faster pace than this languid state of corn and hogs. After 2010 redistricting caused Iowa to shed yet another seat, a Democratic incumbent (Rep. Boswell) was pitted against a Republican incumbent (Rep. Latham). In spite of Obama winning the state and the district, the Republican incumbent won comfortably in 2012. Latham would retire in 2014 and the district was handed over to GOP Rep. David Young.
The GOP would hold this seat for much of the decade, buoyed by the fact that Trump easily won Iowa and narrowly won this district in 2016. The blue wave of 2018 was a different matter altogether, and Rep. Cindy Axne used it to narrowly eke out a 49-47 win over the incumbent Rep. David Young. Trump would narrowly win this district again in 2020 by a 49.3% to 48.9% result, while Rep. Axne would narrowly hold on as well 49-48 in the rematch against Young.
2022 proved to be a different matter, as Axne was one of our most endangered incumbents heading into what was expected to be a red wave election. Axne gave it her best shot, but she was defeated by Zach Nunn by a very narrow 50.2% to 49.6% mark. It is probable but not guaranteed that Trump will win this district again in 2024, which gives Lanon Baccam an opening.
Here’s where this race will be won in the 3rd district.
- Des Moines: This is the golden goose for Democratic votes in the entire district. Baccam has to run up the score in the capital city while keeping down the margins elsewhere in Polk County to have any chance of winning.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Dallas County: Baccam will NOT win this county in his bid for this district. However, it is important that he matches Biden’s vote total and percentage total in a county trending in our direction. Without a good showing in Dallas County, Baccam will have little chance of winning.
- Farm Country: The rest of the district has turned toxic for Democratic nominees very quickly. Some of these counties were ones that Obama won in 2008 and/or 2012, only for Biden to average around 30% in these lower-educated counties in 2020. Baccam is going to be blown out in these rural farm counties, but he needs to stick to around 30% in order to have a chance of winning again.
Who is Lanon Baccam?
Lanon Baccam is the product of immigrants from Laos who emigrated from that country in 1980 to wind up working in an envelope factory. At age 17, Baccam joined the Iowa National Guard to serve the country that took his family in. He served in Afghanistan as a combat engineer focusing on explosive demolitions.
After his stint in Afghanistan, Baccam used the GI Bill to get a degree from Drake University. He wound up working in the USDA, working to provide assistance to veterans looking to work in agricultural careers. He also helped to implement bipartisan programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Baccam’s issues page on his campaign website is very generic, meaning this section is tough to write.
- Abortion Rights Ally. One issue where Baccam takes a stand on his campaign website is the issue of women’s reproductive rights. Baccam will vote to block a national abortion ban, and he will vote to protect contraception, birth control, abortion, and IVF. Iowa is a state that has banned abortion in nearly all instances.
- Rural Agriculture. Always a priority in Iowa, Baccam will make passing a five-year Farm Bill a priority upon reaching Congress, as he doubts the current GOP leadership will be able to do so. This would include further funding for SNAP, TANF, and the ACP to help rural Iowans connect to broadband internet.
- Immigration Supporter. As the son of immigrants, Baccam knows the current immigration system is broken. Baccam has come out in support of the bipartisan border security legislation, and he was aghast when Trump ordered the GOP to torpedo the bill. He also supports increased pathways to citizenship and making the DACA program permanent.
- Saving Social Security. Baccam stands against the schemes to privatize or cut Social Security and Medicare as being hatched by the Republican leadership in D.C. He argues that citizens have paid into both programs for a lifetime and that cuts to either program are cheating people out of what they have earned.
- Foreign Policy Focus. Baccam stands with Ukraine and will be a vote for continued aid for the nation. While Nunn also supports Ukraine, he is increasingly an outlier in his party when it comes to continued funding. Electing Baccam will ensure that Ukraine gets what it needs when it needs it.
- Bringing America Together. Baccam wants to bring our country back together from the polarization that is plaguing it in recent times. It will be impossible to get anything done in D.C. until this happens.
Who is Rep. Zach Nunn?
Rep. Zach Nunn was raised in the Des Moines metro area and graduated from a local high school. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Drake University. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in international relations from Cambridge University.
Nunn joined the US Air Force and the Iowa Air National Guard, was an aide in the British House of Commons, and then returned home to become an aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley. He is an unlikely Obama alumnus, being a director of cybersecurity policy for the National Security Council during the Obama administration.
Nunn would return home once more in 2014 and ran for the Iowa State House. He easily defeated an incumbent in the 2014 red wave that swept Iowa. Nunn ran for the state senate in 2018 and easily won a race for a district in the Des Moines area. He challenged Rep. Cindy Axne in 2022, a contest which he won.
For more about the background and priorities of Nunn, watch this C-SPAN interview.
- Forced Birth Maniac. Nunn stated that he is against abortion without exception at a GOP debate before the 2022 election. He has since backpedaled from that absolutist view, claiming that he supports the usual exceptions. Yet his voting record is full of anti-abortion votes, including one that would imprison doctors who provide abortions.
- Farming Follies. This district relies on the Farm Bill to help many counties stay afloat. While a temporary fix was passed after the Farm Bill was allowed to expire, Nunn and his party are holding up a five-year Farm Bill in order to make savage cuts to it. Nunn is on the House Agriculture Committee, which makes his intransigence all the worse.
- Tax Cut Terror. Nunn voted for the largest tax cut in Iowa history and would love to make the budget-busting Trump tax scam permanent. He argues that Washington promotes “tax and spend handouts” and that tax cuts “get people back to work”. He claims to support reducing the deficit but came out against the Inflation Reduction Act which actually accomplished that.
- Repealing the Welfare State. Nunn has signed onto a budget that would drastically change Social Security and Medicare as we know it. He advocates for raising the retirement age and also worked to block Medicare from negotiating drug prices. But don’t worry, he’s looking for ‘bipartisan solutions’ to keep both programs around!
- 2nd Amendment Zealot. Nunn has an “A” rating from the extremist NRA. In Iowa, he advocated for the so-called “Second Amendment Preservation Act” which would have prevented law enforcement from enforcing any federal gun safety legislation. He even pushed for children under the age of 14 to be allowed to possess handguns!
- Dismantling Education. Nunn wants to eliminate the Department of Education. While in Iowa, he pushed through the precursor to the budget-draining school voucher program in the state. He has voted to cut Early Education programs and the jobs of numerous teachers through his votes in Congress. He is also a supporter of the misnamed “parent’s rights” bill.
- Big Oil’s Best Friend. In spite of the burgeoning wind energy bonanza in Iowa, Nunn pushes back against the “radical green energy plan” of the Biden administration. He instead proposes opening more pipelines, restoring dirty energy jobs, and relying on the strategic reserve. The Sierra Club gave him a 0% score for his environmental efforts while in the State Senate.
How Can You Help?
Lanon Baccam has posted some good fundraising numbers so far. He has been attending lots of events and working on getting his name recognition up in Iowa political circles. His lack of followers on social media are a weakness for the campaign. He has been added to Red to Blue, meaning increased attention will be paid to this race.
Back to those fundraising numbers. Fresh fundraising numbers are due July 15th, but until then we will have to do with Q1 numbers. Baccam raised $894k, which is an Iowa record for a first-time candidate. Rep. Zach Nunn raised $519k, which is a respectable quarter but it doesn’t set the world on fire. In terms of cash-on-hand, the incumbent Nunn has a $1.85M to $1.15M advantage. Help erase that deficit through a donation to Baccam today!
The race will be won or lost based on volunteer enthusiasm. Baccam needs help with volunteers, especially in the vote-rich portions of the district (Des Moines, Dallas County). The way to win this district is through voter outreach as it is expected to be a close race once again. If you live in Iowa, sign up for a shift of canvassing or text banking today!
Baccam has a nascent social media presence, as is typical for many first-time candidates. He hasn’t caught on and gone viral like other challengers have as of yet. This could be a weakness of the campaign and hopefully it will be addressed as we get closer to the election.
Baccam has around 2.4k followers on what was once Twitter. He has been focusing on touting endorsements, attending events, and throwing some shade at the incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn — especially on not passing the Farm Bill. Here is one such event he recently attended.
The story is much the same on Facebook. He has under 1k followers, which isn’t a good place for a challenger to be right now. Hopefully his challenge for Iowa’s 3rd district will get noticed soon, because it is a winnable race. The content isn’t quite the same between social media platforms. Here is an attack on Nunn for allowing the Affordable Connectivity Program to lapse.
Help spread the word today by following Lanon Baccam and boosting his campaign in the critical realm of social media.
This district is trending slightly to the left, with Dallas County being the critical county in the district. While Trump did win the district in 2016 and 2020, it was by such a close margin that Biden can win the district in 2024. Rep. Zach Nunn will have a race on his hands, as Daily Kos Elections rates this as tied for the 10th most likely Republican seat to flip this fall.
It remains to be seen if Iowans will vote for a person of color, especially in a district Trump won. That is the elephant in the room for the Lanon Baccam campaign, and the question he will have to answer. His answer seems to be to run to the middle of the electorate, which is a smart move. Whether that will be enough to win in such an evenly divided district remains to be seen.
Lanon Baccam for Iowa-3
Campaign Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | DONATE | Volunteer
Here is the Defeat the MAGA Dozen Fund on ActBlue! These 14 incumbent members of the GOP are MAGA Republicans residing in swing districts. The challengers are all strong and can win in these tougher districts. Please donate and then share a link to this site on your social media! #MAGADozen