What’s in a name?
A Polk County judge’s answer to that question will determine whether Libertarian candidates in a pair of competitive U.S. House races can appear on Iowans’ ballots this fall.
Libertarian congressional candidate Marco Battaglia, who is running in south-central Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, is seeking to be reinstated on the Nov. 3 general election ballot and contends a state panel was wrong to remove him for failing to run under his legal name.
Rick Stewart, a Libertarian candidate in northeastern Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, faces an appeal challenging the state panel’s determination that he qualified for the ballot.
Polk County District Court Judge Patrick Smith heard arguments in both cases on Wednesday, July 22, and will issue a written decision in the coming days.
Both races are shaping up to be highly competitive, and having a third-party candidate on the ballot could sway the outcome and potentially decide which party controls Congress.
In the 3rd District, Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott have qualified for the ballot.
In the 2nd District, former Republican state Rep. Joe Mitchell, Democratic state Rep. Lindsay James and independent Dave Bushaw will appear on the ballot.
Libertarians contend ‘no confusion’ for voters over Marco Battaglia’s long-established identity
Battaglia is challenging the state panel’s 2-1 ruling that he failed to qualify because he submitted an affidavit of candidacy and nominating papers that do not match his legal name, Mark T. Andersen.
His attorney, Rachel Scherle, contended state law governing affidavits of candidacy gives candidates discretion to write their name how they want it to appear on the ballot, as it says the document must contain a “candidate’s name in the form the candidate wants it to appear on the ballot.” She argued the state panel erred in its interpretation of the statute.
And she said voters understand who Battaglia is. He previously appeared on Iowa ballots as a candidate using that name for attorney general in 2018 and lieutenant governor in 2022. He ran for Congress in 2024 as a write-in candidate after failing to qualify for the ballot.
“Marco Battaglia is the person that Iowa voters have been voting for for years,” Scherle said. “He has been on the ballot in Iowa four times. There’s been no confusion. The voters know who they’re voting for.”
She said there are safeguards in place to make sure Iowa voters aren’t misled, including the state panel’s authority to consider objections and decide whether the candidate has complied with Iowa law.
Smith, however, expressed skepticism about whether that leaves murky criteria for state elections officials to decide whether a candidate’s “stage name” — as Battaglia calls it — is valid when a candidate could instead use their legal name.
“If he was elected to Congress, how does he sign his name then? And how is he identified?” Smith said. “I mean, one thing to say, ‘I’m a celebrity or quasi-celebrity,’ … and another thing to say, ‘I’m a candidate for U.S. Congress.’ Seems to me there’s a difference there. And so again, I’m just trying to figure out how anybody can, if a candidate has discretion to choose a different name as the form of their actual name, is that ever reviewable? And if so, how? By what criteria?”
Critics question whether Marco Battaglia can legally run under ‘stage name’
Patrick Valencia, representing the state panel, said the panel sustained the objection to Battaglia’s nomination papers not only for a deficient affidavit of candidacy.
He said the Iowa code section governing nomination papers says they should be submitted with “the name of the candidate nominated by the petition,” without the flexibility provided by the “form” modifier Scherle highlighted.
Battaglia uses his legal name for government purposes, including on his driver’s license. Valencia said the court should consider that voters couldn’t research a candidate’s criminal history when they run under a pseudonym, as the records would use their legal name.
Smith said authors often publish using pseudonyms. He posed a hypothetical scenario that if writer Mark Twain, whose legal name is Samuel Clemens, ran for office, he’d likely use his more commonly known pseudonym.
Alan Ostergren, an attorney who has taken on multiple high-profile GOP cases and is representing the objectors who challenged Battaglia’s candidacy, said if a name means anything a candidate chooses, that interpretation would produce “absurd results” in future elections.
He questioned what would stop someone from running under the names of prominent Iowa politicians such as Sen. Chuck Grassley or former Sen. Tom Harkin who is not actually either candidate.
“I agree Samuel Clemens cannot appear on ballot as Mark Twain,” Ostergren said. “He can appear as Sam Clemens if he wants. That is a form of his first name that would be in common usage. Kimberly K. Reynolds can appear on the ballot as Kim Reynolds. It’s a common form of her first name that would be easily recognized by a voter. Charles Grassley can appear as Chuck and so on. But Marco Battaglia is not under any way of thinking a commonly used form of the name Mark Andersen.”
Rick Stewart challenged over consistency of names used in paperwork
At issue in Stewart’s case is whether Stewart is eligible for the ballot because he filed his affidavit of candidacy with the name “Rick” while his nomination petitions used “Richard.”
Petitioner Bernie Hayes, the Linn County GOP chair, contends the petitions do not show the signers intended tonominate “Rick Stewart” and therefore are insufficient to place him on the ballot.
“We don’t have any quarrel with the idea that if this gentleman wants to run for Congress identified as Rick as a common form of the first name Richard, he may do so,” said Ostergren, who is representing Hayes in this case. “But if he does, he needs to file nomination petitions that nominate Rick Stewart, not Richard Stewart to run for Congress. Election officials cannot be put in the position of having to guess who voters really meant to support when there’s a difference in the name listed in the header of the nomination petitions.”
The objection panel’s attorney Rudraveer Reddy pointed to the state laws governing affidavits of candidacy and nomination papers and said there is no legal requirement they use the same name.
“If the Legislature wanted to require candidates to use an identical name on both documents, they could have said that in the statute, but they did not,” Reddy said.
Stewart’s attorney Jennifer De Kock said Ostergren essentially conceded the Libertarians’ position in the prior case and suggested sanctions against Ostergren would be appropriate. She questioned the purpose for challenging Stewart’s eligibility to appear on the ballot when Stewart abided by state law in filing his papers.
“There is a real question here as to whether Mr. Ostergren formed his opinions and his arguments in objecting on behalf of Mr. Hayes to Mr. Stewart’s candidacy, was that a good faith argument? Was it formed after a reasonable inquiry?” De Kock asked.
Valencia intervened to say the state panel does not join De Kock’s request for sanctions. Smith said De Kock could file a motion asking the court to consider sanctions but declined to do so at the hearing.
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.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What’s in a name? Judge weighs fate of Iowa Libertarian US House bids
Reporting by Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
