Libertarian congressional candidate faces removal from Iowa ballot amid Republican objections

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — A state objection panel ruled against Libertarian congressional candidate Marco Battaglia’s nomination forms, potentially removing him from the November ballot in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.

Battaglia is running against Republican incumbent Zach Nunn and Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott. The chair of the Libertarian Party is accusing Republicans and a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet of threatening to push Battaglia out of the race.

Battaglia faced two main objections. One argued his nomination forms don’t match his legal name of Mark T. Anderson. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate, who sits on the panel, said the discrepancy could confuse voters.

“I’m looking at this objection from the standpoint of if I were a voter, I would have concerns on being able to look into you; who are you? Because the nomination papers are going around theres one name on it and if I google it, or start looking for information on you I wouldn’t necessarily know who I’m looking at,” Pate said.

The other objection said Battaglia didn’t get enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

The objections came from Republican campaign advisor, Annie Kuhle and the deputy chief of staff for Nunn, Wes Enos.

Stephanie Berlin, chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, claimed both Nunn and United States Healh and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. threatened Battaglia to get him to drop out of the race.

“The objectors themselves were emailing, texting, calling him to bully him off the ballot. Marco received a call from RFK Jr. requesting that he abdicate his position and continuing legal threat,” Berlin said.

Berlin said the outcome was expected and the party plans to appeal to a district court. If the court sides with Battaglia, he could be added back onto the ballot. Otherwise, he could still run as a write-in candidate.

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Isabella Warren covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email her at isabella.warren@kcrg.com; and follow her on Facebook at Isabella Warren TV on X/Twitter@isabellaw_gray, and on Instagram@IsabellaWarrenTV.