Iowa Libertarians nominate new candidates for lt. governor, 3rd District

The Libertarian Party of Iowa’s State Central Committee met to officially nominate two candidates to appear in two races where previous Libertarian candidates had been taken off the ballot by the State Objections Panel. Charles Aldrich, who ran in 2024 as a Libertarian candidate in the 4th Congressional District, will be the party’s lieutenant governor nominee, running with gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Gluba. Jacob Heard, an attorney who previously ran for Iowa House District 44, became the nominee for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.

The two candidates were nominated with unanimous support at the meeting to replace two candidates who ended their campaigns — and who faced court challenges to their ability to appear on the 2026 general election ballot.

In June, the State Objections Panel said the previous 3rd District Libertarian nominee, Marco Battaglia, did not qualify for the ballot because the name he used as a candidate was too different from his legal name, Mark T. Anderson. The panel also ruled Gluba’s ticket, which included Jules Cutler as the lieutenant governor nominee, did not qualify because Cutler had not submitted an affidavit of candidacy for lieutenant governor by the June 2 deadline.

The candidates disputed the objections — Cutler said she was told by a secretary of state’s office she did not need to submit the paperwork, and Battaglia had appeared on the ballot using his non-legal name in previous elections — and eventually challenged the panel’s decision in court. A Polk County District Court judge upheld the panel’s decision in a July ruling.

While both Gluba and Battaglia initially said they would challenge the decision, Battaglia ended his campaign due to a medical emergency, and Cutler later announced she would also withdraw as a lieutenant governor candidate.

The state Libertarian Party nominated Aldrich to replace Cutler on the gubernatorial ticket. Speaking to the committee Wednesday, Aldrich spoke about his experience running for office in previous elections, and said he was “ready to run as lieutenant governor.”

Iowa Libertarian Party Chair Stephanie Berlin said the party was moving forward with the new nomination to ensure the voters who supported Gluba’s campaign had their voices represented at the ballot box in 2026.

“I got to asked the question, why are we doing this?” Berlin said. “Eight thousand and change people signed petitions to put Gluba on the ballot. It’s a huge miscarriage of justice to disenfranchise that many Iowans. In order to run as a gubernatorial candidate, we must have lieutenant governor candidate. So, this will hopefully close that gap for us to move forward.”

Heard was also nominated to replace Battaglia at the meeting. Berlin said while Heard was not able to attend the meeting and did not deliver comments,  he had told her he was “ready and happy” to run for the seat.

The candidates nominated at the Wednesday meeting could still face challenges to their qualifications. Challenges to the two newly nominated candidates would also be reviewed by the State Objections Panel.