Iowa election 2024: Where 3rd Congressional District candidates stand on key issues
In the race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Zach Nunn faces Democrat Lanon Baccam. The district covers southwestern Iowa and includes Des Moines, Adel, Ottumwa and Red Oak.
In the race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Zach Nunn faces Democrat Lanon Baccam. The district covers southwestern Iowa and includes Des Moines, Adel, Ottumwa and Red Oak.
In the race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Zach Nunn faces Democrat Lanon Baccam. The district covers southwestern Iowa and includes Des Moines, Adel, Ottumwa and Red Oak.
In the race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn faces Democrat Lanon Baccam.
Nunn was elected to the seat in 2022 when he narrowly defeated Democrat Cindy Axne and flipped the 3rd District from blue to red. In the June 4 primary, Baccam took nearly 85% of the vote when he beat Democrat Melissa Vine.
Iowa's third district covers southwestern Iowa and includes Des Moines, Adel, Ottumwa and Red Oak, with a population of approximately 800,000.
Watch the videos below to hear more from each candidate and scroll to see where they stand on key issues.
What action would you take to lower costs for Iowans?
Baccam: "Well, we have to go after price-gouging big corporations who are taking advantage of us and the consumers. I mean, truly, price gouging has to be addressed. There's also something really important here and I think we saw this during the pandemic when our supply chains were stressed, when grocery store shelves were empty. We know that we have to find a way to raise and grow the things we eat on our table closer to home. We can't just rely on shipping everything in from far away. We have to incentivize local and regional food systems."
Nunn: "You've got to cut the federal spending. There are too many departments and agencies spending way too much money. One of the things that I've done in Congress is already cut over 50 federal agencies and their ability to raise funds on their own. That should tell us right now there are too many federal agencies in Washington, D.C., trying to control people's lives. The second part is it can't just be about (cuts). You have to be able to grow the economy. I think one of the best ways to grow the economy is to make sure Iowans have their tax dollars and make investments in their community. That's what's going to help us grow, but it's also going to be what pays down our national debt."
How would you secure the U.S. southern border and improve the federal immigration system?
Baccam: "There was a bipartisan border security bill from the Senate, endorsed by the Border Patrol agents. This would have added more agents at the border. It would have deployed smart technology to identify fentanyl and other drugs. And most importantly, it would have forced the president to shut down the border when it became overwhelmed. Was it perfect? No. Absolutely not. But that's a starting point at which we can at least start securing the border and then move into the conversation about how we actually reform immigration."
Nunn: "There are three things we can do immediately. One, we can reinstate Remain in Mexico, something the president could do today with the stroke of a pen. We can make sure that we end this catch and release that allows dangerous individuals to come to our country with little to no vetting at all. And then we can do the important things like finish the security and border wall and make sure that we pass H.R. 2, one of the first bills that I led while in Congress just in my first weeks. This is really important. These are things that require the president to take action. And sadly, we haven't seen that for the last three years."
Should Congress pass a federal abortion policy? And if so, what specifically do you think a federal abortion policy should include?
Baccam: "The Woman's Health Protection Act would restore Roe versus Wade. And for decades that was the law of the land. That is exactly what I hear ... when I talk to voters across the district. That's the policy they want to see back in place. The decision on this is with a woman, her family and her doctors, period. It's not a place for Zach Nunn to insert himself into the doctor's office to tell women what to do with their bodies when this is a deeply personal issue. And women, women should have their rights returned and they should have the rights to make decisions about their own health care, period."
Nunn: "I'm pro-life. I support exceptions. I oppose a federal abortion ban, something my opponent is moving the complete opposite direction for. But I also think we need to have a comprehensive conversation and not try and scare Iowans but be clear with them. I've supported bipartisan legislation for IVF to help a family start a family. It can cost a family tens of thousands of dollars and we want to be able to provide onramps for folks in that path. I also want to make sure that we can have over-the-counter birth control for women. If a guy can walk into a gas station and get birth control, a woman should be able to go to her pharmacist and be able to have that same availability of birth control."
What specific policy do you think needs to go in the next farm bill?
Baccam: "There is a major holdup here because Zach Nunn and his colleagues have focused in on giving payments to a very select group of people. The commodity programs only have a few hundred thousand farmers who are eligible for them, and the top 10% get 75% of the funds. It is a program that significantly, supports the biggest of the big. And so when we look at conservation programs where every single farmer is eligible, 1.7 million operations are eligible for those. And the fact that the nutrition programs, that millions of people rely on those, there has to be a balance, and they have to find a way to compromise here."
Nunn: "We've worked across the aisle to make sure that we have priorities for things like crop insurance [and to give] new and beginning farmers access to hard infrastructure like broadband and market to road bridges. Here's where the challenge is right now, we've got that ready to go bill in the House. In the Senate, they haven't even written down what their priorities are. Now, I have faith that we can work on this together. And in the weeks ahead, we'll have the opportunity to pass a comprehensive farm bill. Once in five years means that we are planning strategically. It's probably one of the best things we do in Congress to look out into the future, but it's also something that's absolutely essential for farmers, for rural communities and for this country because, at the end of the day, food security is our national security, and we've got to get this right."
What action would you take to improve the education of Iowans?
Baccam: "We can focus on the things like Head Start. We can find ways to make early childhood education more affordable. We can find ways to bring back that child tax credit. There are things that we can do to strengthen the ecosystem in our rural communities and communities across the state so young families who want to get their kids enrolled in school have the ability to do so."
Nunn: "First and foremost, title nine. This is important to make sure that, you know, folks like my grandmother who got to play basketball get to keep sports that are important to them, and make sure that there's equality across the country on this. There's a great role for the federal government to be able to support our apprenticeship and trade school programs, as well as efforts we've made with our nursing programs and targeted loan forgiveness for folks who want to go and teach in rural Iowa or be a doctor at a county hospital."
Iowa congressional results
Election results will begin to come in around 8 p.m. when polls close in Iowa.