Democrat Lanon Baccam told the crowd at the Iowa State Fair on Monday that if elected, he would bring his “history of service” and commitment to access to health care to the U.S. Congress.

Speaking Monday on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox, the 3rd District Democratic candidate shared stories from his time in the Iowa National Guard. Baccam said he was inspired to serve by the “legacy” of Iowa Republican Gov. Robert Ray and his decision to accept and resettle refugees from Tai Dam in Iowa — including Baccam’s family in Mount Pleasant — as well as the people who supported and built communities with refugees across the state.

After his time in the military, Baccam took on roles in the U.S. federal government, most recently at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

Baccam said he has “dedicated his life to giving back to this country” and the best way to continue that work is to run against incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Zach Nunn in the Nov. 5 election.

“All of you can sense and feel at times lately that it’s like our democracy is at stake in our country,” Baccam said. “Our freedoms are at stake, and we know that. We’re seeing that here in Iowa, where a near-total ban on abortion has gone into effect. … These are extreme positions that Iowans don’t support, Iowans aren’t there. People want their rights back. People know when their freedoms are being taken away, and that’s what’s happening right now in this state. But we’re going to change that.”

Democrats across the country are hoping that abortion access and reproductive health care will be the issues that prevail in the upcoming election. Baccam criticized Nunn for supporting a measure similar to Iowa’s current law during his tenure in the legislature. The state law, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, went into effect in late July.

Nunn delivered a soapbox speech Friday – the only Republican on the program – stressing his commitment to working across party lines and preparing for a “competitive election year.” Election forecasters such as Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report have rated the race as leaning Republican.

While Nunn spoke to Congress about his bipartisan efforts, he also called for increased security along the U.S. southern border – a top issue for Republicans ahead of the 2024 election and a focus of criticism of the Biden administration.

Baccam criticized Nunn and Republican lawmakers for failing to advance the bipartisan border agreement, which Baccam said would have increased border security by sending more Border Patrol agents to the southern U.S. border and equipping agents with improved drug detection technology.

“I mean, these are things that could have actually made a difference in giving the president the ability to close the border when it’s overwhelmed,” Baccam told reporters. “These are things that the bipartisan border security package would have enabled. And yet it was killed for purely political reasons. And that’s the kind of thing that I think Iowans are fed up with. Any time there’s a chance to actually do something and get something done, politics gets in the way.”

In campaign materials, Nunn and Iowa Republicans have highlighted Baccam’s ties to President Joe Biden, as the Democratic congressional candidate previously worked on Biden’s Iowa campaign team.

But in recent weeks, there have been major changes at the top of the Democrats – Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the candidate to replace former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Baccam said Harris’ leadership has created a “wave of engagement” for his campaign, but said he believes he is the best choice for moderates in the upcoming election.

“I’m a person who is right in the middle here,” Baccam said. “And the key is I’m not running for a party. I’m running to serve communities — that’s really important to me. … And it’s so exciting to know that the challenges that people are facing in their communities are challenges that we can actually solve, but we actually need people in Congress who will put aside the politics and the political games that we see all the time and actually pay attention to the people in our cities.”