Iowa judge rules against Libertarian candidates, keeping their names off the ballot for Congress
DES MOINES, Iowa — Three Libertarian candidates seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Iowa will not appear on the November ballot, following a judge’s ruling Saturday that a decision of a state election commission.
The ruling came after the candidates appealed after the State Objection Panel, consisting of one Democratic and two Republican elected officials, ruled 2-1 that the Libertarian candidates should be removed from the ballot as a formality.
The panel agreed with several Republican Party officials who argued that the Libertarian Party did not follow state law when it nominated candidates at its party convention, which was held on the same day as the precinct caucuses where candidates were selected. Under state law, the term of convention delegates begins the day after the caucuses.
That means the Libertarian candidates were not nominated at valid district conventions, argued conservative attorney Alan Ostergren.
Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert agreed, rejecting the candidates’ arguments that the state panel had no authority to remove them from the ballot. He found that the state law “is mandatory in nature and requires strict compliance.”
“The panel correctly concluded that this level of compliance was required,” Huppert wrote.
The panel’s two Republican members, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of State Paul Pate, sided with the challengers, saying the parties are obligated to follow the rules that govern candidate nominations. The lone dissent on the three-person panel came from State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, who accused his colleagues of political bias.
Independent or third party candidates usually have little chance of winning. Still, the question of how their support margin could change the outcome of the race, is a source of irritation for both Democratic and Republican leaders.
“In general, the parties are concerned about small parties that could take votes from them,” said Stephen Medvic, a professor of governance at the Franklin Party. & Marshall College. “It’s a pretty simple calculation. The Libertarian is more likely to get votes from the Republican.”
Challenges to third-party candidates are as common as the election cycle, Medvic said, and at the presidential level in particular, they are common in swing states where a fraction of the vote is for a third party candidate might be of most importance.
One of Iowa’s four congressional elections was decided by a a razor-sharp margin in 2022. Republican Zach Nunn, challenging incumbent Democrat Cindy Axne, won by less than a percentage point. There was no third-party candidate.
The Libertarian Party of Iowa achieved major party status in 2022, when its candidate for governor received support from more than 2% of voters.
The prosecutor told the judge during a hearing Thursday that the state’s major-party rules are reasonable and nondiscriminatory to keep the nominating process organized and transparent. He said Iowa’s interest in keeping candidates off the ballot is to maintain the integrity of the election.
Libertarian Party of Iowa Chairman Jules Cutler told the judge it was “bullying” to keep the “little guy on the block” off the ballot. Cutler called the party’s technical errors embarrassing but argued they should not invalidate the nominations.
The judge’s ruling means that the names of Libertarian nominees Nicholas Gluba in the 1st District, Marco Battaglia in the 3rd District and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District will not appear on the ballot for the time being.
Ballots were supposed to be certified by Pate’s office on Sept. 3, but the judge ordered the certification suspended until the issue could be heard in court. An appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court is still possible, further delaying the certification and printing of ballots.