Melissa Vine
Melissa Vine (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 4, 2024.
Vine completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Melissa Vine lives in Iowa. She earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 2002, a graduate degree from Liberty University in 2016, and a law degree from the Drake University School of Law in 2024. Her career experience includes working as a nonprofit director.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024
Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Democratic primary)
Iowa's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Iowa District 3
Incumbent Zach Nunn, Lanon Baccam, and Marco Battaglia are running in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Zach Nunn (R) | |
 | Lanon Baccam (D) | |
 | Marco Battaglia (L) (Write-in) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3
Lanon Baccam defeated Melissa Vine in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lanon Baccam | 84.1 | 19,357 |
 | Melissa Vine | 15.8 | 3,642 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 29 | ||
| Total votes: 23,028 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3
Incumbent Zach Nunn advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Iowa District 3 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Zach Nunn | 98.3 | 21,103 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.7 | 365 | ||
| Total votes: 21,468 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melissa Vine completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vine's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Melissa Vine is a single mother of four boys, a businesswoman, and current Director of a non-profit where she advocates for women coming out of trauma.
Ten years ago, she left an abusive marriage and nearly lost everything. Overnight, she went from a wealthy small business owner to having $0 to her name.
At that moment, she made a promise to herself and her four boys that she would rise up from rock bottom. She began checking groceries at HyVee, earning $8.50 an hour to provide for her family.
After finishing her master’s degree, Melissa started and sold two small businesses and worked as a mental health provider where she quickly realized helping Iowans one by one wasn’t enough; she wanted to change the system.
She joined The Beacon as its Executive Director to support women who are recovering from their own trauma. Now, Melissa is ready to bring her story and her skills to Washington DC to make changes where the systems are created.
- Abortion Access
- Increasing Pay
- Reducing Polarization
Abortion Access, Increasing Pay, and Reducing Polarization
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Melissa Vine’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
I support women’s reproductive freedom and I believe women have the right to make their own healthcare decisions, including access to safe and legal abortion services. I believe in upholding the protections established in Roe v. Wade and ensuring that reproductive healthcare remains accessible to all women, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location. I will advocate for policies that promote comprehensive sex education and violence prevention, affordable contraception, and reproductive healthcare services.
The rising cost of living, combined with concerns about healthcare affordability, retirement security, and social safety net programs, are pressing issues facing families in our district. I will fight to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, ensuring that our seniors can retire with dignity and have access to the healthcare they need. I will work to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare, including lowering prescription drug costs. I will also support measures to address the rising cost of housing, education, and other basic necessities, making sure that hardworking Iowans can afford to live and thrive in our communities.
Access to quality, affordable healthcare is a fundamental right. I’m committed to working toward a healthcare system that provides coverage for all Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or income level. This includes supporting efforts to strengthen and improve the Affordable Care Act, expanding Medicaid, and implementing a public option to increase competition and lower healthcare costs. I will also prioritize investments in preventive care, mental health services, and rural healthcare infrastructure to ensure that every Iowan has access to the care they need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
Honoring our veterans’ service means more than just saying thank you; it means ensuring they have the resources and support they need when they return home. I will fight for increased funding for VA healthcare services, mental health support, and job training programs specifically tailored to veterans. Additionally, we must address the backlog of VA claims to ensure timely access to benefits for those who have served our country.
Every person deserves the opportunity to live with dignity and independence. I will advocate for stronger protections against discrimination, improved access to healthcare and assistive technologies, and expanded job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We must also invest in accessible infrastructure and transportation to promote inclusivity in our communities.
The right to organize and bargain collectively is fundamental to workers’ rights and economic fairness. I will stand with unions to protect workers’ rights, including fair wages, safe working conditions, and access to affordable healthcare and retirement benefits. We must oppose efforts to weaken unions and fight for policies that promote job security, economic stability, and a level playing field for all workers.
Protecting our water resources is essential for the health and well-being of our communities and environment. I will advocate for policies that promote clean water initiatives, including investing in infrastructure upgrades to prevent pollution and contamination, supporting conservation efforts to preserve our natural habitats, and holding corporate polluters accountable for their actions while working with family farms to ensure their future success. I will also work to strengthen regulations and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that our waterways remain safe and sustainable for future generations.
I believe in common-sense gun safety measures to prevent gun violence and keep our communities safe. I will advocate for universal background checks, closing loopholes – including the boyfriend loophole – that allow individuals to purchase firearms without proper vetting, and implementing red flag laws to temporarily remove guns from individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. I also support efforts to invest in mental health resources and community-based violence prevention programs to address the root causes of gun violence in our society.
Our current immigration system is broken and I will work with both parties to fix it. I support immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are contributing, law-abiding members to our society, protects our Dreamers and secures our borders.
Protecting the integrity of our democracy is paramount to preserving our freedoms and ensuring that every voice is heard in our political process. I will fight against voter suppression tactics that disenfranchise communities of color, support efforts to expand voting rights and access to the ballot box, and advocate for campaign finance reform to reduce the influence of money in politics. I will also work to strengthen our democratic institutions, hold elected officials accountable for their actions, and promote transparency and accountability in government. Together, we can safeguard the principles of democracy and build a more inclusive and equitable future for all Americans. |
” |
| —Melissa Vine’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
Campaign investigation by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (2024)
On April 30, 2024, the political action committee (PAC) Iowa Unity Coalition, voted to determine who they would endorse for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary. Only registered PAC members who paid the voting fee were permitted to participate, and after an unexpected number of new members were registered and cast votes, an internal audit determined that over half of the votes were suspicious or fraudulent. Many of the new registrants had not met the voting requirements, listed the same address and credit card information, and had email addresses linked to Vine's campaign manager, Lou McDonald. McDonald was fired shortly after as a spokesperson for Vine said he "took actions that do not reflect our values." Lanon Baccam received the PACs official endorsement after the vote audit.[4]
On May 16, 2024, the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board opened an investigation into Vine's campaign to determine if state and federal campaign and contribution laws were violated after the Iowa Unity Coalition filed a complaint. At the conclusion of the investigation, it was determined that McDonald acted independently, and he and Vine were each fined $500.[4][5]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Iowa District 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Melissa Vine for Congress, "Meet Melissa," accessed June 1, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Melissa Vine’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed June 1, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Iowa Capital Dispatch, "Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board opens investigation into Melissa Vine campaign," May 16, 2024
- ↑ The Quad City Times, "Iowa ethics board fines candidate Melissa Vine, former campaign manager for illegal contributions," May 29, 2024
