A Libertarian congressional candidate in Iowa’s 3rd District says U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged him to drop out of a tight race, according to allegations reported on June 15, 2026.
Marco Battaglia said Nunn visited his home on June 7 to convince him to exit the race. Then, a day later, Battaglia said Kennedy called him directly from Washington.
According to Battaglia’s account, Kennedy told him: “If this seat flips, it’ll make my life hell.” Battaglia shared screenshots of his call log with Politico showing an incoming call from a phone number Kennedy has previously used at 12:44 p.m. central, lasting nearly 12 minutes. Kennedy’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Nunn’s campaign denied offering any deal or inducement. Campaign strategist Annie Kuhle said the June 7 visit was to inform Battaglia of challenges to his signatures and invite him to cooperate with an investigation, not to pressure him to withdraw.
Battaglia says Nunn offered him a different kind of arrangement during that meeting. “We’ll fly you out to D.C. and you can be my wing man,” Nunn allegedly said, according to Battaglia’s recollection. “We’ll make you the poster boy for election integrity, and we’ll hang out with Robert Kennedy Jr.” Nunn’s campaign denied making any such offer.
The 3rd District is one of Democrats’ top targets in 2026. Nunn won reelection by fewer than four points in 2024, running about even with Trump’s margin in the district, according to the Cook Political Report. A Libertarian candidate on the ballot could draw conservative votes away from the Republican incumbent, potentially affecting the race’s outcome.
Battaglia did not voluntarily exit the race. Instead, he was removed from the November ballot on June 16 by the Iowa State Objection Panel, which ruled he was ineligible because he did not use his legal name—Mark Thomas Andersen—on his nomination petitions. Battaglia plans to appeal the decision, as the Libertarian Party did in 2024 when all Libertarian candidates were removed from the ballot for not following state law in their nominating process. That appeal failed, but Battaglia and other Libertarian candidates launched write-in campaigns.
Evan McMahon, chair of the national Libertarian Party, condemned the pressure campaign. “Iowa Republicans know they can’t win on ideas, so they are resorting to their favorite tactic: suppressing voter choice,” McMahon said in a statement. “When a third party gathers a record number of signatures and earns its place on the ballot, the answer is to debate them, not to bully them, bribe them, or sue them off the ballot.”
Republicans have already spent nearly $4.5 million to defend the seat, according to the political advertising tracker AdImpact. The Democratic nominee, State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, is part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program, which targets competitive Republican-held seats.
Sources
- Politico — Battaglia’s allegations of pressure from Nunn and Kennedy, call log screenshots, Kennedy’s prior involvement in battleground races, and Nunn campaign denial
- The Des Moines Register — Initial reporting of Battaglia’s claims and Nunn’s June 7 visit
- Cook Political Report — Nunn’s 2024 election margin and district competitiveness
- KTIV — State Objections Panel’s removal of Battaglia from the ballot on June 16
