DES MOINES, IOWA (June 24, 2026) — The Gluba-Cutler campaign filed a petition for judicial review in Polk County District Court Tuesday, June 23, asking a judge to reverse the State Objection Panel’s decision and restore Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler to the November general election ballot. The campaign collected more than 8,000 signatures from Iowans statewide — more than double the 3,500 required by law.
According to the petition, when lieutenant governor candidate Jules Cutler attempted to submit her affidavit of candidacy on June 2, a Secretary of State employee told her it was “not needed” and declined to accept it. Thirteen days later, the State Objection Panel voted unanimously to remove the Libertarian gubernatorial ticket from the ballot because that affidavit was not on file.
The petition argues the outcome violates longstanding Iowa election law. It contends that a state employee with the authority to accept or reject nomination papers told Cutler her affidavit was unnecessary, accepted the remainder of the filing, and gave the campaign no reason to believe anything was missing. The appeal cites Iowa Supreme Court precedent holding that candidates who rely in good faith on an election official’s mistake should not be penalized for doing so.
The appeal further argues that if Cutler’s affidavit was legally required at the time of filing, Iowa law required election officials to reject the nomination papers immediately, allowing the campaign to correct the issue before the filing deadline. Instead, the petition contends, the nomination papers were accepted and the issue was not raised until after the deadline had passed, eliminating any opportunity to correct the problem before the deadline.
Beyond the facts of this case, the petition also challenges the constitutionality of Iowa’s ballot access laws.
Under current law, Libertarian candidates must select their lieutenant governor candidate before collecting a single petition signature. Republican and Democratic nominees, by contrast, may wait until 76 days before the general election to select a running mate. The campaign argues this disparity places nonparty political organizations at a structural disadvantage in violation of constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
“This isn’t complicated,” said Nicholas Gluba. “We tried to submit all of our paperwork. The state’s own employee turned part of it away. Now the state is using that as the reason to remove us from the ballot. More than 8,000 Iowans signed our petitions, and they deserve to have their voices heard in November.”
The petition requests expedited consideration ahead of the November 3 general election. The campaign is represented by Jacob P Heard of Iowa Defenders PLLC in Clive.
The Libertarian Party of Iowa is committed to America’s heritage of freedom: Individual liberty and personal responsibility, a free-market economy of abundance and prosperity, a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade. Find out more at lpia.org.
