Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Gluba and his running mate, Jules Cutler, are challenging an Iowa state decision to remove them from the Nov. 3 ballot.
A panel comprised of Attorney General Brenna Bird, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, who are all Republicans, ruled last week that the running mates failed to submit the required affidavit of candidacy by the required June 2 deadline to appear on the ballot.
Gluba and Cutler filed an appeal Tuesday, arguing Cutler was misinformed by the secretary of state’s office when she attempted to present an affidavit of candidacy but was told it was “not needed.”
“This isn’t complicated,” Gluba said in a statement. “We tried to submit all of our paperwork. The state’s own employee turned part of it away. Now the state is using that as the reason to remove us from the ballot.”
The employee, elections specialist Dani Phillips, testified before the panel that Cutler did not provide the affidavit nor ask if she was required to.
Gluba and Cutler said Phillips should have rejected the nomination papers if they did not meet the state’s requirements, which would have given the pair the opportunity to correct any mistakes before the filing deadline.
“It is no surprise that Gluba-Cutler relied upon Phillips accepting the nomination papers as she had the statutory duty to accept them if they were sufficient and to reject them if they were insufficient,” the candidates’ appeal said.
The libertarian candidate said the ticket garnered over 8,000 signatures from Iowans. Under Iowa’s candidacy filing requirements, gubernatorial hopefuls must gather 3,500 signatures, 100 of which should come from at least 19 counties, according to the secretary of state.
Should Gluba and Cutler’s appeal work out in their favor, it would add another competitive layer to the Hawkeye State’s governor’s race. The Cook Political Report rated the open seat as a “toss up” as Democrats try to flip that state from GOP control.
Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn won their parties’ nominations in the June 2 primary, which saw the fall of President Donald Trump’s pick Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA).
Sand, in his capacity as state auditor, would typically sit on the panel that barred Gluba and Cutler from the ballot, but he recused himself from the hearing because he is on the ballot in question.
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The agriculture secretary replaced Sand, but the Libertarians argue Iowa law dictates Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) should replace the state auditor.
The secretary of state’s office said the law, Iowa Code Section 44.6, “does not apply in this circumstance” because it is beyond the code’s scope, and rather the office leaned on “past practice” in substituting Sand.