Marco Battaglia was the Libertarian Party of Iowa’s candidate for attorney general in 2018 and lieutenant governor in 2022. He is running for Congress in Iowa’s third district this year.

I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I am registered Libertarian. I am aware that some baggage comes with that label. I am trying to set a positive example of what the term means both historically and today for as many of my active fellow patriots as is possible.

I would love for all of us on the ballot to debate respectfully together and to run as no party, but the government of Iowa and the federal government make it impossible to do so at this time. I would love to help change this. I would rather serve people and talk about individual issues than talk about political parties. If anyone thinks critically enough about enough issues, they will soon discover that both a left to right spectrum and a two-party system are obsolete.

Photo of Marco Battaglia provided by the author and published with permission.

Marco Battaglia was the Libertarian Party of Iowa’s candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022.

There is so much we could do better in terms of elections that it is difficult to know where to begin.

Currently the Iowa Secretary of State’s website will tell you that Iowa has three political parties. It does so because a ticket featuring myself and Rick Stewart received more than 2 percent of votes cast in the 2022 election for Iowa governor. In order to consistently be considered a recognized major political party in Iowa, a party must have its nominees exceed 2 percent in either the presidential or gubernatorial race (whichever is on the ballot in each cycle). 

Being recognized by the state as a political party does not mean candidates running as Libertarians will receive anything near fair representation in media coverage. Nor does it mean those candidates will be allowed to debate or attend forums with Iowa Democrats and Republicans, or that polling will include Libertarian Party candidates.