DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) — An Iowa Libertarian congressional candidate took his turn on the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Sunday at the Iowa State Fair — and says he’s ready to fight. That’s because some Republicans say he didn’t follow the rules to get on the November ballot and they want his name removed.

When Marco Battaglia took the stage on Sunday, he called on Congressman Zach Nunn to compete in a wrestling match with him. “I invited Zach Nunn to a no holds barred wrestling match. The loser goes off the ballot. And it looks like there’s only one person,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia is running in central Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District and is one of three Libertarians who are objecting to Republicans putting them on the ballot.

Charles Aldrich, who is running for the 4th Congressional District in northwestern Iowa, and Nicholas Gluba, who is running for the 1st Congressional District in eastern Iowa, also face objections.

“The further they stretch this out, the more they screw up the electoral process. They screw up polls. They screw up debates,” Battaglia said.

After the caucuses, parties must hold county conventions where they choose their delegates to the state convention. The objection, filed by Republicans, says Libertarians skipped county conventions and went straight to the state convention and selected candidates.

Battaglia says the party did have district congresses, but they were held in one central location.

“It was in Polk County, but the delegates broke out of their specific counties. So they still had a meeting of people from those counties nominating us,” he said.

Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver is backing them. “The idea that there were no conventions for their party is ridiculous, because I know Iowans who have been to these conventions and were there, so to me it should be as simple as saying, ‘Hey, was there a convention? Yeah, there was. You’re good to go,'” Oliver said.

Battaglia says this is the way they have done it in the past and they have not encountered any objections

“I think they’re just really confused about the fact that we don’t all of a sudden have 99 counties full of organizations working for free to do this work that the average person doesn’t care about,” he said.

Later this month, a board consisting of Secretary of State Paul Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird and State Auditor Rob Sand will decide whether he and two other Liberals will be on the ballot.

If he is thrown out, they will continue fighting, he says.

“If we fight it, it’s going to be because it’s a legitimate legal concern. We’re going to do it through the legal system. We’re not going to storm the Gold Dome and pee on the governor’s carpet or anything like that,” Battaglia said.

—

Conner Hendricks writes about state government and politics for Gray Media stations in Iowa. Email him at [email protected]; and follow him on Facebook via Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.