Melissa Vine and Lanon Baccam are running to win Iowa’s 3rd District back for Democrats, but only one will make it past Tuesday’s primary

Two years ago, Republican Rep. Zach Nunn flipped Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District by a thin margin — just over 2,000 votes. In next week’s primary election, two Democrats — Lannon Baccam, a former official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and nonprofit leader Melissa Vine — are competing for the chance to go up against Nunn and try to take the seat back.

A stack of yellow yard signs for Lanon Baccam quickly dwindled at a fundraiser for Tai Village in Des Moines. Tai Village is a gathering spot for the Tai Dam community — refugees who fled Southeast Asia in the wake of the Vietnam War, including Baccam’s parents who came to Iowa in 1980.

A group of women pulled Baccam aside and tied woven, yarn bracelets on his wrists. Soon, five or six bracelets were tied on each arm. Baccam said it’s a custom called "the tying of the blessings."

“They were saying, 'We wish you all the best luck in your run for Congress.' A very, very traditional way of showing your support for people in our culture,” Baccam said.

Baccam lives in Des Moines but was born and raised in Mount Pleasant. He served as a combat engineer in the Iowa Army National Guard and deployed to Afghanistan where he helped dispose of unexploded bombs and other munitions.

Later, he worked at U.S. Department of Agriculture under Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who is now backing his bid for the U.S. House. He led programs for veterans and to expand broadband.

Baccam says he’s running for Congress with working-class families in mind.

“You know, sitting here today with the Tai Dam community, this is a working class group,” Baccam said. “We've got to pay attention to things like lowering costs for health care, for example, finding ways to save money, prescription drugs. Groceries are still a pinch for a lot of people when they go to the store.”

In the 3rd District, Des Moines and Polk County are a big blue dot. The other 20 counties in the district, mostly in rural southwestern and south central Iowa, all went for Nunn in 2022. Baccam believes he can break out of that blue bubble with his background working in rural communities.

“I will be a constituent-focused representative finding ways to leverage these programs and get this money back to Iowa so our communities can become stronger,” he said.

Two years ago, Nunn won the seat by less than 1%. It’s rated “lean Republican” by the Cook Political Report, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee includes it on a list of seats party leaders are targeting this fall.

Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford says if Democrats want to reverse the result from 2022, this may be their best chance.

“If you’re going to have a chance of knocking somebody off, that first reelection bid by someone whether it’s a Senate seat or a House seat or anything at all like that, that’s your best bet." he said.

Melissa Vine, who is running against Baccam in the 3rd District primary, also believes she can attract independent and conservative voters with a specific issue and a specific goal in mind.

“Day one, we codify Roe. Simple as that,” Vine said.

Raising wages and countering political extremism are top issues for Vine, but she says abortion rights and the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade are what pushed her to run for office. Handing out flyers at the downtown Des Moines farmers market, she introduces herself as a candidate running for Congress to advocate for women’s rights.

“We need more female candidates in office to advocate for abortion rights and women's health care rights,” Vine said. “We currently have only 29% of Congress as women. And I think if we had gender-parity in Congress, we wouldn't still be talking about abortion rights in 2024.”

Vine lives in West Des Moines. The single mother of four sons recently graduated with a law degree from Drake. She is also the executive director of The Beacon, a nonprofit that helps women recovering from trauma.

Iowa’s pending state law banning abortions at around six weeks goes against the views of a majority of Iowa voters , and it could weaken health care beyond just abortion.

“We have the lowest rate per capita of OB-GYNs. What happens when women are diagnosed with uterine cancer or ovarian cancer and we don't have enough OB-GYNs?” Vine said. “Newly graduated doctors are not going to want to practice in a state where the basic practice of medicine could be criminalized. So this has a cascading impact on anyone who needs access to health care in our state.”

Late in the primary race, Vine’s campaign came under an ethics investigation. Her campaign manager was found to have made contributions to a progressive PAC ahead of the group’s endorsement vote.

Vine fired her campaign manager. They were each charged with a $500 fine by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Vine said what happened is not in line with her values and she’s focusing on issues like abortion.

Lanon Baccam also says codifying abortion rights is a top priority, but Vine believes as a woman running on the issue she can draw support from women voters across the political spectrum.

“This race will be decided by independent women voters,” Vine said. “And we need to put the strongest general election candidate up against Zach Nunn in order to compel these women to come out and vote.”

For either Melissa Vine or Lanon Baccam, the test ahead will be to face incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary.

Democrats are outnumbered in the district among active registered voters by more than 16,000, according to the May registration totals from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. In Tuesday’s primary, Democrats will choose the candidate they believe has the best chance of overcoming that deficit.