As clock ticks, Iowa judge hears arguments from Libertarians wanting to run for Congress

DES MOINES — Libertarians called it a case of “bullying by the big kid on the block.”

Republicans and the state of Iowa argued it is a simple case of requiring Libertarians to follow the same state laws as other political parties.

The parties in a legal challenge to a state panel’s ruling to remove three Libertarian candidates for Congress in Iowa from the ballots for this November’s election made their cases Thursday to an Iowa District Court judge at the Polk County Courthouse.

District Judge Michael Huppert pledged to issue his ruling quickly as he acknowledged the time crunch: Iowa elections officials have roughly two weeks — until Sept. 21 — to mail ballots to Iowans voting from overseas.

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Huppert issued an injunction Tuesday in the case to prevent the Iowa Secretary of State from certifying ballots for the Nov. 5 election until the matter is resolved in the courts.

On Thursday, Huppert also appeared to acknowledge the likelihood that his ruling, regardless of which way it goes, will be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.

“I will take this matter under advisement. I know that this is a time-sensitive topic,” Huppert told the lawyers at the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing. “I will endeavor to get a ruling out that addresses all of these issues in relatively short order, and perhaps get the matter to where it’s probably going to be ultimately decided.”

After no Libertarian Party candidates in Iowa ran for U.S. House in the state’s primary election in June, party officials held a special nominating convention to nominate candidates in three of the state’s four congressional districts.

Objections filed in mid-August with the State Objections Panel claimed the Libertarian congressional candidates are ineligible for the ballot because their state party failed to follow proper nominating procedures as outlined in state law.

The panel — consisting of Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate, Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird and Democratic Auditor Rob Sand — met Aug. 28 and voted 2-1 to uphold the objections and remove the Libertarians from the ballot. Pate and Bird cast the majority votes and Sand was opposed.

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The Libertarians — Nicholas Gluba in the 1st Congressional District, Marco Battaglia in the 3rd District and Charles Aldrich in the 4th District — challenged the panel’s ruling in District Court. The arguments presented to the judge aligned with those that have been made previously in the case.

Lawyers for the Libertarian candidates argued the state panel overstepped its bounds and ruled on an objection that was not under its purview, and that the Libertarian Party substantively complied with state law and that the objections equate to removing candidates from the ballot over a technicality.

“What they’re trying to do is say if you don’t do it, if you don’t follow the minutiae, if you don’t make sure that all your Ts and Is are crossed and dotted, then we’re going to take you off the ballot. If you don’t comply, then your substantive rights are destroyed,” argued Jennifer De Kock, an attorney representing Battaglia. “Make no mistake, that’s what’s being asked for today.”

Lawyers for the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the State Objections Panel, and for the objectors argued that state law must be followed to the letter to ensure Iowa’s elections feature integrity and transparency.

Lawyers for the state panel and objectors also argued that there is nothing unfair about the state requirements that the Libertarian Party of Iowa failed to meet, and that they should be held to the same standard as other major political parties.

Libertarians earned major party status in Iowa after gubernatorial candidate Rick Stewart earned at least 2 percent of the vote in the 2022 elections.

“The state’s interest in regularity and how the general election ballot is formed, including who’s on it, should be obvious. No candidate has an unfettered right to access to the general election ballot,” lawyer Alan Ostergren, representing the objectors, argued. “To get on the general election ballot, a candidate has to follow certain rules. If that candidate wants to get on the ballot by being nominated by his or her party, that party has to follow the rules in order to have access to the ballot.”

Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Districts, currently represented by Republicans U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, respectively, are projected to be closely contested. In the 1st District, Democrat Christina Bohannan is challenging Miller-Meeks, and in the 3rd District, Democrat Lanon Baccam is challenging Nunn. National elections forecasters rate the two elections as leaning Republican or tossup.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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