Republican Zach Nunn defeats Lanon Baccam, wins reelection to Iowa U.S. House District
3rd Congressional District: Includes 21 counties in central and southern Iowa, with the cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Winterset, Osceola and Ottumwa
Republican Zach Nunn has won a second term representing Iowa's highly competitive 3rd Congressional District race over Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam.
The Associated Press called the race for Nunn at 11:20 p.m. with about 52% of the votes over Baccam's 48%.
The race was seen as a toss-up, and a pre-election Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found a plurality of likely voters in the 3rd District favored a Democratic candidate for Congress over a Republican, 48% to 41%.
Nunn, a former state senator and state representative, also narrowly won his first term in 2022 by about 2,000 votes, or half a percentage point, over former Democratic U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne.
The 3rd District covers 21 counties in central and southern Iowa, including the cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Winterset, Osceola and Ottumwa.
Nunn has identified inflation, immigration, high taxes and government regulation as some of his top priorities if elected to a second term.
“The reality is, Iowa farmers, Iowa small business owners, Iowa families balance their budget,” he said during the candidates' Oct. 8 debate on KCCI. “We should expect the government to do the same, and that starts by holding federal agencies accountable for their spending and cutting the runaway red tape in D.C.”
In his television advertising, Nunn attacked Baccam over inflation and immigration, seeking to tie him to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
On the campaign trail, Nunn leaned into the bipartisan work he’s done in Congress, citing his status as the 10th-most bipartisan legislator in Congress, according to the Lugar Center at Georgetown University.
Both Nunn and Baccam are military veterans.
Nunn is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and served as an airborne intelligence officer, deploying overseas three times to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as director of cybersecurity on the National Security Council.
Baccam served eight years in the Iowa National Guard, where he earned the rank of corporal, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 as a combat engineer.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.