A political consultant advising US Rep. Zach Nunn’s reelection campaign sent a warning this month. In a group chat between Nunn and Libertarian congressional candidate Marco Battaglia, consultant Annie Kuhle wrote that Battaglia better withdraw from the race or face legal action. Eight days later, she and Nunn’s deputy chief of staff filed a challenge to remove him from the ballot.
The exchange began on June 6 when Kuhle texted Battaglia asking to meet for coffee. Battaglia assumed the campaign wanted to coordinate a debate. He invited Nunn over the next day instead. And on June 7, Nunn and Kuhle arrived at Battaglia’s home on the south side of Des Moines.
What started as a shared meal of Mongolian beef shifted into a conversation over ballot access.
“Nunn said this directly… we’ll fly out to D.C. and make you the poster boy for election integrity. You can be my wingman and we’ll hang out with Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr.,” Battaglia said. “And I was like, oh my God, did this man just use his campaign slogan on me? He hit me with the campaign slogan in my own home after I made him dinner.”
The following day, June 8, Kuhle messaged the group text chat to follow up on the home visit.
“We feel strongly that the signatures that were presented to you were gathered by Democrat operatives, likely with dark money, and are specifically meant to damage Zach’s chance of reelection,” Kuhle texted. “Because I believe you were unaware of this and being put in a bad position we approached you to discuss the situation and ask you to consider withdrawing from the ballot.”
As the text exchange continued, Kuhle set an expectation of how to proceed.
“Because we believe these signatures were collected in bad faith, should you choose to not withdraw by Tuesday at noon we will need to begin our process of getting to the bottom of this without you,” Kuhle texted. “That means filing multiple challenges to your signatures and additional legal action, as necessary.”
That day, Battaglia received a phone call from US Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr., where Kennedy told him “if this house seat flips, it’ll make my life a living hell.”
Battaglia refused to drop out. Following the Tuesday deadline, he was officially stricken from the November ballot by the State Objections Panel on Monday, June 15.
While the panel simultaneously accepted “Rick” instead of “Richard” for 2nd District candidate Rick Stewart, they drew the line at Battaglia using his stage name, a moniker he notes was allowed on previous Iowa ballots.
“It feels like they want one person—the incumbent would like one person on the ballot, the incumbent,” Battaglia said.
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Gluba, who has known Battaglia for years, was surprised by the name dispute. He echoed Battaglia’s frustrations, arguing that the technical enforcement of name qualifications overlooks how candidates are actually known to voters. He believes the motive of the objection stems from fear.
“You look at polling numbers between Republican and Democratic candidates throughout the state by or barring certain areas that are very narrow,” Gluba said. “The Republicans fear a split vote on the conservative side of the ticket.”
Battaglia’s legal team is working on an immediate appeal to resolve the ballot dispute in district court within weeks. “I just think that it was wrong to come to a constituent’s house and behave that way,” Battaglia said.
Neither the Nunn campaign nor representatives for Kennedy responded to inquiries prior to publication.
