Iowa Gubernatorial Campaign 2018
History
Libertarian Party of Iowa achieved major party status in 2017 as a result of Gary Johnson earning at least 2% of the vote in his 2016 Presidental campaign. This gave LPIA the opportunity to hold precinct caucuses and participate in the primary.
Candidates
In May of 2016, Jake Porter announced a campaign for Iowa Governor. In 2017, he suspended his campaign to take over as interim Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Iowa. In June of 2017, Porter relaunched his campaign with announcements on WHO Radio and WHO-TV 13 out of Des Moines [1]. In September, Porter began a web training series for down-ticket candidates. Topics included ballot access and media relations. Porter attended an event Clinton County, Iowa that focused on family law reform in October. November brought an invitation to speak at a Young Americans for Liberty sponsored event at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.
On August 3, 2017, Marco Battaglia officially announced via a YouTube video of his intention to challenge Porter for the nomination [2], paving the way to add another first for LPIA, a contested primary. Like Porter, Battaglia also appeared on WHO radio to discuss his campaign on September 14th. He made appearances at Boone Pufferbilly Days celebration in September as well.
The candidates participated in their first forum together in Urbandale, Iowa on August 29, 2017, during Adam Kokesh's Taxation is Theft event.
On November 19, 2017, Jake Porter and Marco Battaglia engaged in their first debate for the Libertarian Party of Iowa's Primary [3]. LNC District 6 Representative, David Demarest moderated the event, which took place in Council Bluffs and included speeches from candidates for Secretary of State, Jules Ofenbakh, and US House of Representatives, Bryan Jack Holder.
Both gubernatorial candidates were invited and participated in a forum on mental health, December 5, 2017 [4]. They were among 10 other candidates for Iowa Governor, which included Republicans, Democrats and an Independent.