A Democrat trying to flip a competitive seat in Iowa is going to have help from a huge fundraising haul.
Lanon Baccam, a former official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and first-time candidate, raised $1.3 million last quarter. Baccam is looking to flip Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District blue after Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) flipped the seat red in the midterm elections.
The months of April, May, and June were Baccam’s highest in terms of fundraising since he entered the race in November. In comparison, Nunn’s campaign raised $1 million in the second quarter of the month and has $2.5 million in cash on hand four months out from the election.
National Democrats are eyeing the seat Baccam and Nunn are fighting to claim as they believe Baccam can flip it blue once again. Baccam easily won the primary against his Democratic opponent.
The district encompasses Iowa’s capital and most populous city, Des Moines. After redistricting, Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District would have voted for former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden by just 1 percentage point in the 2020 election.
In 2022, Nunn faced then-Rep. Cindy Axne and narrowly won the race by a little over 2,000 votes. Cook Political Report currently labels the district as “Leans Republican” by 3 percentage points. His campaign said it has released two TV ads so far and has recruited 120 active volunteers for the campaign.
According to Politico, there isn’t much polling on the district, but a survey from Baccam’s campaign conducted by GQR Research shows both candidates tied at 43%.
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“With the resources to build his profile in the four months before Election Day, Lanon Baccam will be well-positioned to flip this crucial seat,” the survey memo said.
A June poll from the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa using a generic ballot shows all four of Iowa’s congressional districts leaning toward Republicans. In this district, 55% of likely voters said they would vote for a Republican, 40% of likely voters said they would vote for a Democrat, and 5% said they were not sure.