A Republican-dominated state panel on Wednesday voted to remove all three of Iowa’s Libertarian congressional candidates from this fall’s general election ballot — a decision the candidates said they will likely appeal in court.
The three-member State Objection Panel voted 2-1 to uphold challenges against Libertarian nominees Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District, Marco Battaglia in the 3rd District and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District, ruling that the Libertarian Party failed to follow the proper procedures when nominating them for office.
The decision means that, for now at least, the three candidates will not appear on Iowans’ ballots this fall.
“This is about silencing us,” Libertarian Party of Iowa Chair Jules Cutler said in a news conference following the panel’s decision. “This is about silencing voices. This is about controlling who we can and cannot vote (for).”
If their appeal in court is unsuccessful, all three candidates said they plan to run write-in campaigns for Congress this fall.
“What they just did was unshackle me from a party platform,” Battaglia told reporters after the panel’s decision. “So if they tell me I’m not a Libertarian, then I’m going to be even better-suited to represent the people of District 3. And I think that they should be even more scared now of a write-in campaign.”
The absence of a Libertarian candidate on the ballot could make a difference, particularly in the 3rd and 1st districts, which are expected to be competitive this fall. Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn won his 3rd District seat in 2022 by just over 2,000 votes, with no Libertarian on the ballot.
The challenges against all three candidates were filed by Republican voters, including county chairs, political candidates and activists. They were represented by Republican attorney Alan Ostergren at Wednesday’s hearing.
The two members of the State Objection Panel who voted to uphold the challenges are both Republicans: Secretary of State Paul Pate and Attorney General Brenna Bird. The panel’s sole Democrat, Auditor Rob Sand, voted to dismiss the filings.
Why were the Libertarian Party candidates kicked off Iowa’s ballot?
The objections accused the Libertarian Party of failing to follow the procedures spelled out in Iowa law for political parties to nominate candidates for office.
The Libertarian Party qualified for major party status in 2022 after its gubernatorial nominee that year earned more than 2% of the vote in the general election.
The major party designation allows the party to register voters as Libertarians and hold state-run primary elections, but it also requires them to follow certain steps for holding conventions and nominating candidates for office.
The objections say the Libertarian Party failed to notify county auditors of the results of its precinct caucuses, including the names of the people elected as county convention delegates, as required by state law.
The objections also say the Libertarian Party’s county conventions were improperly held the same night as its precinct caucuses, even though state law says county convention delegates don’t begin their terms until the day after they are selected.
“Even if delegates to the county convention were selected at the precinct caucus, they’re not actually county delegates until the next day when their term starts,” Ostergren said. “And so there’s no way to conduct county-level business immediately following the precinct caucus.”
Cutler acknowledged the party made mistakes but said its procedures substantially followed the law.
“It is embarrassing that we didn’t do it,” Cutler said. “It is a learning process; it is growing pains. But at the end of the day, we are substantially compliant with the law.”
Battaglia complained that hurdles are constantly being put up in front of Libertarian candidates.
“It just feels like every time we do what we’re supposed to do, there’s this new hoop to jump through and this new hoop to jump through,” he said. “And I’ve been a part of jumping through every time, going all the way back to working for Ron Paul and Rand Paul in Iowa.”
Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver did not face a challenge to his candidacy and will appear on the general election ballot.
What did Paul Pate, Brenna Bird and Rob Sand say about the Libertarian challenges?
Pate said his job is to be consistent in interpreting and enforcing the law so he’s treating every candidate the same way.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but the rules are the rules,” he said. “And I as the commissioner of elections don’t get to make them up. I have to enforce them as they are.”
Bird said, “We don’t want to keep people off the ballot on technicalities,” but added that Iowa law imposes obligations on major parties.
“The Iowa code makes it clear that a caucus and a county convention can’t be held at the same time,” she said.
Sand said Iowa Code Chapter 43.24 allows voters to challenge candidates’ place on the ballot based on their nominating papers or their certificate of nomination.
“We’re not talking about the nomination papers. We’re not talking about the certificate,” he said. “We’re talking about whether the Libertarian Party’s process was legally compliant, and I don’t see under 43.24 how we have any authority to do that.”
When there is doubt about whether the law has been followed, Sand said the longstanding precedent on the panel is to rule in favor of giving voters more choices at the ballot box.
“Our job here is not to err on the side of kicking people off the ballot,” Sand said. “Our job is to err on the side of keeping them on.”
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Panel removes Libertarian congressional candidates from Iowa ballot
