Iowa 3rd Congressional District candidate Jacob Heard speaks to Iowa State Fair attendees on Aug. 22, 2026. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Libertarian Party’s new nominee for the 3rd Congressional District race in Iowa gave two reasons to Iowa State Fair attendees for why he shouldn’t have the chance to speak with them on the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox stage.
The first was that Marco Battaglia, the initial Libertarian candidate in the congressional race, was supposed to be up there but didn’t qualify to be placed on the election ballot, as ruled by the State Objections Panel and upheld by a Polk County District Court judge. The second was that Heard himself has not been deemed qualified to run, either.
“The Libertarian State Committee voted about two weeks ago to replace Marco, as well as Nick Gluba and Jules Cutler for the governor and lieutenant governor seats,” Heard said. “When we turned in our nomination papers this last Monday, two days later, the Secretary of State’s Office said that the proper procedure wasn’t filed with their office in time, and therefore he’s not accepting … my candidacy as well as the governor and lieutenant governor’s candidacy to appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.”
Like Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Gluba said after his own soapbox speech, Heard told reporters he is confident the “petition for writ of mandamus” filed by the candidates will force Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate to allow their names to be placed on election ballots. He believes the Secretary of State’s Office is using a “novel interpretation” of Iowa code detailing processes for non-party political organizations to fill vacancies in candidacies.
A ruling on the petition is expected to come on Aug. 27, Heard said. If the case goes up to the Iowa Supreme Court, Heard will argue for the Libertarians.
Heard focused his speech to fairgoers on the risks he sees to having a two-party system in Iowa, but told reporters he’s focusing on constitutional amendments in this campaign “that will try to fix Congress.”
These amendments would include requirements for single-subject bills rather than omnibus bills like those seen at the federal level, repealing the 18th Amendment relating to the direct election of senators and adding an amendment to “force Congress to spend within their means.”
“Congress is, in my opinion, our most dysfunctional branch of government, both federal and state level,” Heard said.
Pulling back the War Powers Resolution to limit presidential powers in engaging in acts of war without congressional authority are other priorities Heard shared.
In his time working as a legislative analyst for Iowa Senate Republicans and as chief of staff to then-Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, Heard said he learned that Iowa Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing — they will remain the only two political parties in Iowa if they can help it. This was clear in 2024 when Libertarian candidates were taken off ballots, he said, and it’s clear now.
Two-party systems like the one in Iowa cause problems whether the parties have split control over state government or if one has the majority, he said, like nothing getting done if a policy issue keeps the parties at odds or the pendulum effect of the majority party passing its preferred policies then policies swinging the other way when control shifts.
In Iowa’s current case of Republicans being in charge of state government, Heard said the checks that are supposed to be in place go away “because that party isn’t going to want to embarrass or reduce the power of their governor, so to speak.” An example of this he said was during the COVID-19 pandemic when Gov. Kim Reynolds passed executive orders banning certain gatherings.
Iowans are also given a “false choice” at the ballot box that makes them believe they’re wasting their vote if they cast their ballot for a Libertarian or other non-major party candidate, he said.
“Every Iowan can have a good idea, have a good policy solution, but when you limit it to just Democrats and Republicans, it gives you a false choice and a false idea or premise that there’s only two solutions,” Heard said.