A Polk County judge ruled against reinstating a Libertarian gubernatorial ticket on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, siding with a state panel that said the candidates failed to qualify.
But Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin left open the possibility that candidate Nicholas Gluba could replace lieutenant governor candidate Jules Cutler with another running mate and still make the November ballot. The court released the decision Monday, July 27, a week after hearing arguments in the case.
Election analysts rate Iowa’s open governor’s race this year as highly competitive. Gluba’s absence from the ballot could shape the race, which now includes Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn.
The case stems from a State Objection Panel ruling June 15 that the Libertarian ticket failed to qualify because Cutler did not submit a signed affidavit of candidacy.
The Libertarians’ appeal surrounded whether the candidates received incorrect guidance from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office when filing their papers on June 2.
Gluba and Cutler say elections specialist Dani Phillips told them they did not need to provide an affidavit of candidacy for a lieutenant governor candidate.
Phillips testified in court she did not remember whether Cutler was present when Gluba turned in his paperwork. She said she did not reject any paperwork.
After the ruling’s release, the Libertarian Party of Iowa Chair Stephanie Berlin and Cutler said the party is taking time to decide whether to appeal.
“We are disappointed in the outcome,” Cutler said in a statement to the Register. “We will take an evening to process and will regroup later this week to decide what our next steps will be, if any.”
Judge affirms Secretary of State Paul Pate’s role on State Objection Panel
In his decision, Seidlin rejected the Libertarian candidates’ arguments that Secretary of State Paul Pate should have recused himself from the State Objection Panel’s decision.
The all-Republican panel of Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig ruled unanimously against Gluba and Cutler.
During the July 21 hearing, Jacob Heard, an attorney for Gluba and Cutler, argued the case revolves around Phillips’ training and the credibility of her testimony in front of the State Objection Panel.
He noted another employee in the office helped Phillips write two sworn affidavits in advance of the State Objection Panel’s June 15 hearing and prepared her to testify.
Seidlin ruled state law does not provide a basis to recuse the secretary of state over the credibility of the office’s own election specialist being in dispute, adding the candidates failed to provide “compelling evidence of personal knowledge” Pate couldn’t set aside.
“While the court can accept that Secretary Pate has an interest in having honest employees with good memories, there has to be more to trigger an obligation to recuse,” Seidlin wrote. “These circumstances do not establish evidence of personal knowledge regarding the factual dispute, or that a fair hearing before the panel was not possible due to prejudgment voting or personal investigation by the secretary.”
Gluba’s path to ballot remains unclear
While Monday’s ruling decisively takes Cutler off of the Libertarian gubernatorial ticket, it is unclear whether Gluba could still appear on the fall ballot by replacing him.
In his decision, Seidlin declined to weigh in on the matter.
The judge said that while the candidates requested in court and before the panel that Gluba be allowed on the ballot with an opportunity to select a successor running mate if Cutler is disqualified, the procedure for filling the vacancy was not part of the objection proceeding.
“The procedure for filling a vacancy, if even applicable here, comes separately and after an objection is sustained,” Seidlin wrote. “The court should not give advisory opinions concerning a matter not before it.”
Berlin said while the party and candidates are determining whether to appeal, Gluba’s place on the ballot is uncertain.
She said the party has the option of nominating a lieutenant governor candidate through a state convention but added that was unlikely by the state’s Aug. 22 deadline for filing nomination papers.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.
Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@registermedia.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Libertarian candidates remain off Iowa ballot after court ruling
Reporting by Marissa Payne and Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Marissa Payne and Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
