Three Libertarians running for Congress won’t be on Iowans’ ballots for the election this fall, after an Iowa Supreme Court ruling issued Wednesday
The decision means First Congressional District candidate Nicholas Gluba, Third District candidate Marco Battaglia, and Fourth District candidate Charles Aldrich can’t have their names on the ballot.
The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the State Objection Panel’s decision that found the candidates weren’t properly nominated because the Libertarian Party of Iowa failed to follow state law governing the timing of county conventions.
The Court rejected the Libertarians’ argument that substantial compliance with the law was good enough. The justices wrote the candidates had to demonstrate strict compliance with state laws for getting on the ballot.
The lack of Libertarians on the ballot could affect close congressional races in the first and third districts, but the three announced they will run as write-ins.
The court decision came just ahead of the final day for Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate to set the statewide ballot for the November 5 election.
In another Siouxland state, the Nebraska Secretary of State on Wednesday announced that one high-profile person will no longer be on the presidential ballot that people will see. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had previously successfully petitioned onto the ballot, but he withdrew his name from the ballot this week.
Kennedy, part of the multi-generational political family who are overwhelmingly Democrats, ran on the We The People political party, before deciding not to run in August.
Kennedy has thrown his support to Republican former president Donald Trump, a decision that has resulted with rebukes by many in the Kennedy clan.
The four other presidential nominees who will be on the ballots of Nebraskans are Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, Cornell West of the Legal Marijuana NOW Party, Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party, and Jill Stein, an independent.
Early voting starts on October 7 in Nebraska, October 16 in Iowa, and first on September 20 in South Dakota.
* Total enrollment is up this fall at Iowa’s three public universities.
It is the second year of growth since enrollment hit a post-pandemic low point in 2022.
Student numbers at Iowa’s Regents universities peaked in 2016 and were already in decline when the COVID-19 pandemic made things worse.
The University of Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa each reported Thursday their total numbers are up.
At UNI, student numbers grew three percent to 9,283.
Enrollment at Iowa State totals 30,432 this fall.
And 30,779 students are enrolled at the U of I which also brought in the third largest class of first year students in the history of the university.
In other enrollment news, the University of South Dakota set several all-time records, including in overall students and total graduate student enrollment.
USD on Wednesday reported a new all-time record in overall headcount this fall, with 10,619 students enrolled –751 more students than last year’s enrollment of 9,868, or a 7 percent increase compared to fall 2023.
USD also reached new heights by welcoming it's all-time largest entering class of first-time, full-time undergraduate students, with 1,371 enrolled.
*Additionally, 37 Iowa Republican state legislators are backing a lawsuit saying the Iowa Utilities Commission has acted unconstitutionally in its approval of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.
That step raises some questions for northeast Iowa’s ethanol industry.
The pipeline would connect nearly 60 ethanol plants and stretch across five states. One of those plants is in Charles City, which is represented by Representative Charley Thomson, who is the primary author of the suit.
At a Wednesday press conference, Thomson addressed those concerns, saying constitutional rights shouldn’t take a backseat to profits and tax breaks for businesses. He asserts that the ability of project officials to use the eminent domain avenue to access property is “a violation of the law.”
“We follow the law, we follow the Constitution (first), and then we start looking at business considerations,” Thomson said.
Lawsuits have been filed in district courts across Iowa and at the federal level.
