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Justin Brady: I’m Justin Brady from the Iowa Podcast in the Jethro’s Barbecue Studio. What’s up with HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy calling a local libertarian candidate for the, uh, candidate for US House and telling him to drop out? What, what’s up with that? Or putting maybe a little pressure on him? And also, what’s up with the, uh, petition being filed for judicial review? Looks like the libertarian candidate may be thrown off the Iowa District 3 race. That would be Zach Nunn, Sarah Trone Garriott, of course, Democrat, Republican, and what’s up with all that? Well, we’re going to ask him. Marco Battaglia joins us today, the libertarian candidate for the US House Iowa District 3 representative race. Marco, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Marco Battaglia: Thank you so- It’s good to be back

Justin Brady: That’s right. You were on a couple years ago, I think

Marco Battaglia: last cycle when I had my own court stuff that time

Justin Brady: it’s

Marco Battaglia: and then after the court, it went all the way to the Supreme Court, uh, and then I came on to kind of tell my side of the story, which I appreciated getting a chance to do that

Justin Brady: Yeah, we’re going to talk about why that’s happening, the, the, uh, calls that you’ve had. Before we do that, really quick everybody, if you want to get a gift card from Jethro’s, go to iowapodcast.com/, uh, j- no, sorry, just go to iowapodcast.com scroll to the top, click the banner, and if you buy a $100 gift card, they will give you a $30 gift card. More chicken wings for you. Uh, Marco, like I said, thank you so much for coming in here. Uh, first, let’s, let’s talk about the… W- you’re getting thrown off the ballot at this point. I think you’re off the ballot at this point. You filed a petition to be back on. But let’s talk about the name thing, because this is where things center. You have run for office before under Marco Battaglia

Marco Battaglia: Many time- more times than most people

Justin Brady: And now the center of the court challenge is that that’s not your name. Your name is Mark Thomas Andersen

Marco Battaglia: And it’s S-E-N. They didn’t even spell that right

Justin Brady: So I guess there are two questions here. W- what have you been told? Like, why is this a problem now? And we’re gonna talk about the call, we’re gonna p- talk about your conversation with Representative Nunn, we’re gonna talk about all that too. Why is this an issue now? And I think the question everybody’s wants to know is, bro, why not just use your name? Like, why, why do you have a, like a, a s- a pseudonym or a pen name or a stage name?

Marco Battaglia: They’re all great questions. Um, if I could first, uh, the Jethro’s reminded me of something, uh, a brush with a Iowa celebrity. Um, one time I was opening the door for my parents to enter Jethro’s, and standing there, um, was the longest serving governor in US history, Terry Branstad. Um, and he just… I held the door and he came out, and then I, I went in. I just, the Jethro’s thing reminded me of that. Yeah, So, So- it good. If it’s good enough for the, the pork king, uh, Terry Branstad, I think it’s good enough for anybody. The China, China wheeling and dealing all the pork stuff. But yeah, so the back to the name

Justin Brady: Yeah, the name thing

Marco Battaglia: um, it’s not a fake name, so I’m trying to get people to stop repeating that. It is closer to a nom de plume or a stage name, but it’s not even that. Uh, my youngest son is named Justice Nello Battaglia, uh, named after my grandfather, Nello, and then, uh, I’m named Marco. M- okay, they switched it to Mark, but Marco after my great-grandfather, Marco. My mom was born in Italy, uh, Modena, Italy. Um, some of my family work in the Maserati plant, some work in the Ferrari plant. Um, but they came here, she came here on a boat when she was a toddler with her mom and dad through Ellis Island. Um, and they moved to Madrid, Iowa, um, where they grew up, and that’s where my grandparents are, are buried. And on their tombstone it says, “We moved here for…” You know, bas- I’m just, uh, paraphrasing, but, “Sacrificed everything for a better future for our children and their children.” Um, that’s what it says on their, their tombstone. Um, and that’s in Madrid, Iowa, where I, I visit them, uh, at, at that, and that’s where I, you know, where I, uh, want to be buried, as close to them as possible. Um, so that’s my… If we lived in a matriarchy instead of a patriarchy, my name would be Marco Tommaso Battaglia. If we my dad ditched my mom and didn’t stick with her and get married to her, my name would be Marco Tommaso Battaglia. So

Justin Brady: So it’s an ances- it’s an ancestral name from your mom’s

Marco Battaglia: Yes. And it, they changed it from b- at some point in history from Battani, or from Battaglia to Battani, but if you go back, you know, you, geneal- genealogical study, it would be Battaglia

Justin Brady: So after this whole situation now, does this push you to maybe legally update the name?

Marco Battaglia: I already was in the process. I was gonna get married, and then the marriage fell through. That’s why my son is legally named Justice Nello Battaglia, and he goes to public school, and everybody– He’s more popular than I am, and everybody sees him and knows him in the community. So it’s never been like a… I think the, uh, what they’re trying to show it is like a mafia thing or like a, a, what do you call it? Alias or a- Who’s

Justin Brady: The GOP?

Marco Battaglia: Gree and Annie. Uh, Annie, Annie Kuhle and Zach Nunn. They’re the– Annie was the person that challenged me, and she came over to my house for dinner with Zach. getting into that, we can whenever,

Justin Brady: And who is Annie? Just

Marco Battaglia: She’s the one that challenged my name. Got

Justin Brady: Got it. And she works for the

Marco Battaglia: She works for Nunn

Justin Brady: And what’s her last name?

Marco Battaglia: What was her last name? I think Kuhlie Okay. K-U-H-L-I-E, I think.

Justin Brady: Okay. So it’s an ancestral name. You were in the process of legally changing it, you think it would be a big deal, but now it is

Marco Battaglia: And I even went to the courthouse to try to change it, but I was told by my lawyer that anything that happens now I can’t use in this hearing. Oh.

Justin Brady: okay

Marco Battaglia: even if I changed it today, um, it wouldn’t help me now. It would help me next cycle if I wanted to run or some- or in the future. Um, but you know, I like both names. It’s not like, uh… My oldest son is named Luca James Anderson, with the James, uh, as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio, the greatest front man in music history.

Justin Brady: so I think like the, the, the bottom of this then is that as a third-party candidate, third par- if you even wanna call it that, small party, um, people are basically going to do whatever they can to keep you off the ballot

Marco Battaglia: threw everything at the wall, and this is the one thing that stuck.

Justin Brady: this is bi

Marco Battaglia: a lot of other stuff that they were gonna challenge, and

Justin Brady: Oh, they have a list. What were the

Marco Battaglia: list. Yeah. What was that? A laundry list. uh, that I was… The only reason I got on the ballot was Democrat dark money, uh, something about-

Justin Brady: That was about the signatures, I think.

Marco Battaglia: Yeah, but they said they were gonna challenge the signatures. Right. And so

Justin Brady: so-

Marco Battaglia: of the signatures and the signatures themselves, and I think they went through it with a fine-tooth comb and realized that it was all legit, so they couldn’t…

Justin Brady: and this is This just got crossed So let me, yeah, this is a new development then because, uh, according to a Politico article, um, I think, s- I don’t know, I can’t remember the who, the person who cited this, but they basically said they had evidence that the signatures you gathered were from dark money groups that were tied to the Democrat Party. And so I think. and so

Marco Battaglia: think-

Justin Brady: that true?

Marco Battaglia: And just me, I think. I don’t think it was the other libertarian candidates. I think it was just me. Um, they told me that people were laughing at me, which don’t

Justin Brady: Yeah People laugh at me too. Yeah

Marco Battaglia: I mean, I would love to be a stand-up comedian, so they’re just helping me out. But no, no. They said like, uh, “We have it on good authority that they’re just laughing at you’cause you fell for the Democratic machine or something.” But dark money was used a lot. And as a student of history, I remember… So I’m Roman Catholic. Uh, I mean, you can’t shake it after baptism and, uh, confirmation and, uh, you know, all that and all the guilt that you feel. So, so that was my, my grandma, um, definitely, um, until she… She lived to 103, so she made sure I went to church at least until then, and she still tries to remind me in her own, own ways, but

Justin Brady: Yeah. Can I ask what, uh, you mentioned the signatures, you mentioned your name. Can I ask what other list of items they said they had that they were gonna throw at you if

Marco Battaglia: The signature the name, the money behind the signatures, um, if they were even valid people. Uh,

Justin Brady: they re- if the names were valid? Yeah. Okay.

Marco Battaglia: Uh, and they were really good. I mean, I’ve done this many times, and I’ve gotten a lot of my own

Justin Brady: And this was Nun and Annie saying this?

Marco Battaglia: They said no. Uh, they said that at my house my face So that whole– That, okay, here’s exactly how it

Justin Brady: So Nunn and Annie at your house basically said, “Hey, here are the things we’re going to rise up to get you off the ballot, and we have a long list and we’re gonna keep doing this if you don’t drop

Marco Battaglia: their ultimatum was that if I dropped out, it would be better for me and there’d be a different path that this could go on

Justin Brady: And so this is the carrot and stick approach. I think you mentioned this in previous interviews, which you basically said they were gonna fly you out to DC, you were gonna hang with RFK, you guys were get- you know,

Marco Battaglia: Literally, quote, unquote, I was gonna be his wingman and they would make me the poster boy for taking on, or for election integrity. So end quote.

Justin Brady: And what, like what else was offered then?

Marco Battaglia: Um, okay, so real

Justin Brady: Was it like a position in an, in an administration somewhere offered?

Marco Battaglia: it like a position within the administration? Um, we can get to that. But

Justin Brady: that a yes though Quick side note

Marco Battaglia: It started with, uh, we’ll get– I’ll answer that. Um, it started with me filing on a Friday, and then I start getting calls from, uh, Annie, who was very upfront, and she told me she worked for Zach, so I knew I was dealing with someone that Zach pays. Um, but I also knew that she worked for a company that made attack ads against Thomas Massie, who is someone that I’m rather fond of, uh, like friendly with, but also he’s one of the people in Congress that I respect. Um, so I already knew I was dealing with staffers and activists that had helped remove him from Congress. Um, and I knew I was dealing with people that took a lot of, you know, APAC money because that was a lot of the momentum to get rid of Massie, and I know that they’re just open and proud about it, which is fine. And then, uh, so, so yeah. Then she says, um, she hits me with those same kinda lines and just over the phone, um, and I said, “Well, this would– I take what you’re saying to heart, and I’m gonna think about it, but this would mean a lot more coming from the congressman.” So then they asked to go out, uh, for drinks or dinner, and I say, “Well, uh, tomorrow we’re making lunch here at home. You’re welcome to come.” And I think because they thought on their side time was of the essence to get me to, to agree to something. So they agreed, um, and then we go to the next day, which is Sunday. Um, after church, they came over and, um, they were late for one, which is whatever. But then I opened the garage door and told them to come in the garage, and this didn’t register to me until after a whirlwind of, of stuff happened. But now, um, I really think about it. They came to the front door, um, and knocked, and I was like, “That’s strange,”’cause when you have guests at your house and you say, “Come through the garage, it’s open,” like, uh, that’s just weird cause nobody really comes through my front door unless I don’t know. You know, they’re like cold knocking or whatever. Um, and I realized that they prob- they, they saw, I’m almost 100% certain they saw the Tesla Model X and they knew that that could record, so I think they were trying to keep this off the record at least as much as possible.

Justin Brady: interesting Maybe We don’t know, but I

Marco Battaglia: the

Justin Brady: people have Ring cams

Marco Battaglia: but I, I, mean, I know plenty of people in my neighborhood do, but I think they wanted the ability to deny anything that happened that

Justin Brady: Yeah, and we’ll obviously ask’cause we don’t know that. But what you mentioned earlier, a position may have been offered. What position did they offer you?

Marco Battaglia: Um, they didn’t offer me a, they didn’t offer me a position. Um, they offered me exactly that, a flight to DC, hang out with RFK Jr., and be a wingman in the fight for, uh, election integrity. A poster boy and a wingman.

Justin Brady: So

Marco Battaglia: didn’t even know what that really meant in his speak

Justin Brady: sure. So I d- I don’t know. There, there have been, um, accusations now, not from you, uh, not that I know of, of this possibly violating the Hatch Act. I actually

Marco Battaglia: I think that’s a RFK thi- well, that might be a Nunn thing too

Justin Brady: basically prevents a l- um, sitting politicians from pressuring people under certain circumstances. It also prevents, like, them using resources, uh, of federal resources for running campaigns, which just my personal opinion seems like literally every politician does

Marco Battaglia: And don’t even know if just the offer is a violation of the Hatch Act myself, so

Justin Brady: it seems like a gray area. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know anything about it,

Marco Battaglia: I personally haven’t gone after anyone, uh, for any of that. The only reason I even started sharing details was because people asked, you know, “Who challenged your ballot was Annie who was there at the table

Justin Brady: Um, so I wanna talk about the RFK, uh, Bobby, Bobby Kennedy call as well

Marco Battaglia: the-

Justin Brady: Tell, me what you guys

Marco Battaglia: Now tell me what you guys did I told Zach and Annie that, uh, I wasn’t dropping out, and then this is the next day. So this is Monday, the following Mon- you know, the next less than 24 hours. My phone rings. So first my phone starts blowing off the hook, um, with weird numbers to me, and it was like right-wing and, and GOP activist press saying, “Uh, we hear your signatures were collected with dark money.” Um,

Justin Brady: Wait, this was before any of this news break. Journalists were…

Marco Battaglia: using the same language that and Annie used at my house

Justin Brady: so before any of this breaks, before you go to, to the press at all, you’re already getting calls from journalists saying that we heard you, heard you’ve accepted dark money

Marco Battaglia: only a specific type of journalist. Right, right of center and mostly not major

Justin Brady: So this wasn’t news yet. There was no news about so clearly someone was tipped

Marco Battaglia: And it was the same language that Annie and Zach used, so I asked them who their source was, and they wouldn’t tell me, of course, which is fine.

Justin Brady: Huh, okay. So, m- allegedly, again, there are a lot of layers to this, and I don’t claim to know any insider information. That’s your, what you’re, why you’re here. But it looks like Congressman Nunn and Annie came to your house. You said, “No, I’m not gonna drop out.” And after they leave, reporter, this isn’t public knowledge yet, Politico has not run the article yet, and then reporters start calling you saying, “Hey, we heard a source told us you’ve accepted fake signatures, dark money groups tied to Democrats.” Am I… Do I have the timeline correct? Yeah.

Marco Battaglia: Can I have a timeline what I would call it myself from my own year, many years of political experience on everything you could do in politics except for actually hold office, um, is like a, I would use the term maximum pressure, uh, campaign to try to get me to do whatever they wanted me to do

Justin Brady: Was Politico’s journalist, I don’t know the name of the person who wrote that piece’cause they were the one who broke this story, were they one of the ones who called you?

Marco Battaglia: Not at this point. No.

Justin Brady: not yet.

Marco Battaglia: This was literally

Justin Brady: to them? think they

Marco Battaglia: talked, to everybody that called me from that moment forward because was pretty sure they were gonna try to spin it, so I just wanted to

Justin Brady: Get your in there Yeah

Marco Battaglia: my, from my point of view. Um, so I did eventually talk to Politico and eventually The Washington Post and a number of other mainstream, you know, ABC and a number of mainstream outlets beyond

Justin Brady: Were those articles accurate?

Marco Battaglia: Pretty much I didn’t see anything that was inaccurate other than some spelled my name wrong, my my government name wrong

Justin Brady: of those was basically accurate. I’m– This isn’t a trick question I just make sure it was honest

Marco Battaglia: is inaccurate other than some of the stuff that Zach and Annie said

Justin Brady: So I wanna talk about the RFK call. What was discussed, uh, with Bobby

Marco Battaglia: this is that Monday and after all that, a morning of that kind of stuff, um, which was the same language that they used in our meeting at dinner or lunch. It was… Yeah. And then, uh, uh, one of the people I talked to was Simon Conway from WHO because I’ve had a relationship with them. I’ve go on anything, I go right, left, whatever. Plus I love WHO and the history of, you know, like Ronald Reagan and all that. Um, so, and he told me that same thing, that he heard people were laughing at me, and I was like, “What, what circles are these?” You know? And that’s what I was starting to try to figure out

Justin Brady: Um, it sounds like, uh, you’re saying that people were us- all using the same langu- language, including these journalists contacting you, including Mr. Conway on WHO Radio. Before you had a chance to talk to anybody, these people, they were all using very similar language. Like, “People are laughing at you. Dark money

Marco Battaglia: the staffers are laughing’cause you fell for this ruse or something. And, you know, all I asked for was evidence. Like, I’m a correctional officer. I do, and I’ve done investigations. Even before that, I was a financial crimes investigator for 10 years. Uh, so I don’t just accept things without evidence, people that are professional, uh, truth benders and liars and gaslighters

Justin Brady: that, that is… So I do wanna get back to the Kennedy call, though. What, what was discussed on the Kennedy

Marco Battaglia: DC pops up on my personal phone. I didn’t give my number to Washington DC, so either Zach and Annie gave them my number or it is this name num- uh, number I used for filing. So, um, they could have just looked it up that Um, so I hear, “Hello. Um, hello Marco, this is Bobby, uh, Bobby Kennedy.” And I was like, I was like, “Is Zach Nunn doing an AI prank on me right now?”‘Cause I knew that he’d done some shady stuff going all the way back to his, uh… In like student government, he like recorded somebody with a baby monitor or something.

Justin Brady: I I I’ll say no, and I don’t know anything about that, so I’m not gonna

Marco Battaglia: in the mainstream press

Justin Brady: something I can probably cover on a different show. I just don’t know enough about that, so

Marco Battaglia: so anyways I was just, uh, I kept my mind open’cause I’ve never got a call from a member of the Kennedy family before. But no, I asked him questions like, uh, that I knew, uh, AI would not be that fast with or even give necessarily the right answer. I was like, “All right, who killed your dad? Who killed your, uh, uncle?” Um, and we had some conversations about that, and we had, like, a nice conversation, just friendly, about things, um, a wide range of things, like issues we do agree on, um, and then, uh, about Curb Your Enthusiasm’cause I love that show and his wife is on that. So I asked him, like, “Is the wife… Are you keeping the wife happy even after being in DC?” Um,’cause, uh, you know, that’s important.

Justin Brady: So he, you, he basically, and I think Politico verified your call log, that it was a number that Kennedy has used in the past, so I don’t need to

Marco Battaglia: And we’ve called back and forth

Justin Brady: on the same number since So what did he ask you, what did he ask you? So you talked to him too?

Marco Battaglia: the last few days, I

Justin Brady: In the last- And what did you talk about in the last few days?

Marco Battaglia: Uh, how this, these stories were breaking and I didn’t ever record him. I didn’t think he did anything wrong on my call. Um, there– apparently he’s been doing this to candidates all over the country, allegedly. And I know Rick Stewart, they did record him, and that’s where the Hatch Act stuff comes from, I think. Um, I never alleged any wrongdoing. I actually asked him to endorse me

Justin Brady: And obviously he didn’t.

Marco Battaglia: Not yet. Not yet anyway, but maybe they ruined for me

Justin Brady: was the initial call? Did he ask you to drop out? What words did he use?

Marco Battaglia: I would say it’s like a light mean, but not very compelling or very, uh, intense. He said, he said… So I think his voice is like a disability, otherwise I would do the impression.

Justin Brady: yeah,

Marco Battaglia: He–

Justin Brady: So I just

Marco Battaglia: just say it in my own voice. Right. But

Justin Brady: fine. Yeah

Marco Battaglia: but, um, he said like, “Marco, this would make my life hell if this seat flips.” So like I’m an emotional,’Hey, you like me,’ and, um, it would be tough if there’s a third person on the ballot’cause it gets unpredictable or whatever

Justin Brady: A lot of people say, well, the data supports the fact that typically a Libertarian candidate pulls more GOP votes than it does Democrat votes. Now, the majority of a Libertarian candidate pulls Independents. But

Marco Battaglia: someone

Justin Brady: a little bit more GOP. Democrats, it does pull a little, not a lot. So that’s, so in a tight race I would assume, correct me if I’m wrong, in a tight race between Garriott and Nunn, Troen Garriott and Nunn, I think the concern from the GOP would be it’ll pull just enough votes, not a lot, but just enough to give Gar- Troen Garriott the win, right? Is this what discussed

Marco Battaglia: and, and Annie said that,

Justin Brady: they said that Sure. And so this is the concern, um, that the GOP has and why they want you off the ballot basically. What else was discussed on the Kennedy call?

Marco Battaglia: Things that we agree on, um, like, uh, housing first and mental health and addiction rehabilitation at the community le- community level. Um, like ending the… Well, letting people use psychedelic and plant-based medicine, including things that are currently, uh, federally scheduled and, and outlawed at the state level, too. Um, you know, like s- s- psilocybin, uh, marijuana and… But also like MDMA and LSD and anything that we know now has therapeutic value or, or more than that

Justin Brady: Why do you think, and did he tell, did, uh, Secretary Kennedy tell you why, um, losing a congressional seat to Democrats,’cause I’m assuming that’s his concern, why that would make his life a living hell?

Marco Battaglia: Um, well, for one, there’s one– At the time, it might be different, even less now, but, uh, at the time, there was one vote away, I think, from impeaching both him and the president if they wanted, if someone wanted to

Justin Brady: Okay. And th- does, is that what he told you or you just assu-

Marco Battaglia: Ah, that was what the headline on the paper said the next morning

Justin Brady: So, okay, so it’s, it’s unclear then, at from yeah, at least from, uh, Secretary Kennedy’s position, it’s unclear why he’s concerned

Marco Battaglia: so then I ended the call, the first call with him saying, um, “I don’t think your father or uncle would want me to drop out.”‘Cause there is a big difference between me and a lot of other people. If you even look at my website, like I go further left than, uh, Sarah on some issues like abolish ICE and, um, end the drug war. So a, a old school Iowa Republican is probably not gonna be thrilled about those things. Um, and then Zach addressed that too by saying, you know, the average voter isn’t even gonna know that. But to me, that rubbed me the wrong way. That made me think of like Penguin from Batman, like, “We play this city like a harp from hell,” or whatever. Like, like it made me think of a sleazy politician trying to talk down about the average voter or whatever. I started getting mad at this point,’cause this is my own house. I thought since he was coming to my house, he was finally ready to treat me like they treat the Democrats or whoever, you

Justin Brady: Yeah. I, can I ask why, um, w- I think a lot of pe- I mean, you’ve worked with Bobby Kennedy in the past. Uh, I I don’t say personally

Marco Battaglia: him when he was running against Joe Biden. Yeah And I gave him a VHS tape of a documentary about his father’s, uh, situation at, after his murder.

Justin Brady: can Yeah, so you do, do have, it’s not like you’re besties, but you do have a preexisting relationship a little

Marco Battaglia: me from I- from Smokey

Justin Brady: And

Marco Battaglia: Des Moines

Justin Brady: why not, and this is just my own curiosity, I think people would wanna know, what, you know, you have as a libertarian certain agenda items, the libertarian platform, um, why not use that as an opportunity to push some of those initiatives? You have an Unrig the System pin. Why not use that opportunity to maybe get in good with Secretary Kennedy and Zach Nunn and change things within? And it’s not a criticism at all, I’m just curious, why not?

Marco Battaglia: I don’t think… As far as I know, we’re– I’m not, not in good. I think they, they, they,

Justin Brady: Not anymore

Marco Battaglia: they did all this, not me. Right. I didn’t say anything bad about them really. I mean, I got mad and said maybe like some minor stuff, but I don’t think anything… I told him that, you know, I think he’s a patriot with a beautiful family, and I respect his service. Um, I told him that any disagreements we had were purely political, and we’re both Roman Catholic, so, you know, we could sit in the pew next to each other, and I’ll confess whatever sins he wants me to about the situation

Justin Brady: are the main concerns you have with, uh,’cause you’re obviously running for the House Iowa District 3 representative, uh, Congress, obviously federal. What are the concerns you have with Nunn and Trone Garriott, um, that, you know, they don’t, they don’t reflect Iowa values, or they don’t reflect, um, libertarian values or, or what they’re doing is concerning? Why run against both of them?

Marco Battaglia: I guess to that answer, I’d have to go back to last cycle when I was running against Nunn and Lenon Bacom. Um, I personally felt like Lenon was a really good person, but I didn’t feel like he was running to win. Uh, I felt like he– I saw him show up at one event and one parade, and then at the fair. Um, but I don’t feel like he was going around District 3 at the level you need to to win. Mm-hmm. So I just felt like that was your old school red, blue, you know, Nunn’s just gonna be in there again, so just throw out a guy to be on the ballot. And I hadn’t met Sarah yet, so until I knew for sure that it was that kind of situation, I thought potentially the same thing was happening,’cause she has her own position that they don’t want her to lose, I would think. Um, I think she’s really good at it, as far as I know. But also District 3, you’re supposed to represent the people of the district, and I know from my own travels that they don’t feel represented. So I think that I’d be the best person to do that, honestly and sincerely. So why would I drop out after doing all the work that they told me at the Supreme Court, “Hey, you can– We’ll remove you from the ballot this time. All you have to do is get signatures next time.”

Justin Brady: Right. And then you got the signatures and they’re trying to

Marco Battaglia: they

Justin Brady: those out Yeah. So, um, how is the petition going? You have a hearing

Marco Battaglia: I never dropped out. I’ve been, my, uh, viol- you know, my anything pertaining to me running never ended. I never stopped anything. So almost everyone takes more than two years to run for a federal office. So I didn’t, I didn’t ever drop out

Justin Brady: So as of recording this, um, this will drop tomorrow, but as of recording this, you’re off the ballot for the congre- congressional race, um, for the Libertarian slot, and you’re currently filing a petition, uh, and it’s in judicial review in the Polk County, uh, District Court, and I think you have a hearing tomorrow. So when this airs, um, everybody, there will be an active hearing. How is that process going right now? Are, are…’Cause the Libertarian Party of Iowa and the national Libertarian Party are backing this lawsuit. Are you gonna win this thing and get on the ballot?

Marco Battaglia: I think so. And if I don’t, the way that this works, I could still get on the ballot. I would probably try to get on as Mark Thomas Andersen, S-E-N. Um, I can pick basically, uh, America 250 Party

Justin Brady: Sure. Okay, so you would get on another way. Um-

Marco Battaglia: and there’s historical precedent for that going back to like Teddy Roosevelt and a number of people of famous hist- history. I mean, Abraham Lincoln was a third party

Justin Brady: So you, you mentioned in your email that should this not work, you’re going to eventually seek presidential, um, nomination from the Libertarian Party. Here’s my question. Um, the, you know, obvi- the obvious thing, I think people are like, “The Libertarian Party, like Marco, you’re never gonna get it.” Um, but I think libertarians know that because the, the first objective is to get 2% local or 5% federal to get major party status, which unlocks over $100 million in federal tax money. And for people who don’t know, yes, major parties can get over $100 million in tax money if they hit major party

Marco Battaglia: And I’ve gotten over 2% multiple times in every election I’ve ran

Justin Brady: think it’s like 2%, uh, state unlocks funding and 5%. So this is, so people are

Marco Battaglia: I was part of the ticket that earned the major party status with Rick Stewart, and then I his lieutenant governor candidate. And then

Justin Brady: that don’t understand, this is why libertarians aren’t… I mean, you’re clearly running to win elections, but libertarians, the

Marco Battaglia: You have other reasons

Justin Brady: the status first, get the funding, and then you can start winning elections. It’s multi-tiered. I’ll say federally, Gary Johnson is the presidential candidate who got the most, and I think it was 3.8, 3.28%

Marco Battaglia: so almost, he was next to like Ross Perot, like right below that

Justin Brady: that’s the best That was close, uh, but that’s the best the Libertarians have done

Marco Battaglia: And his running mate was William Weld, uh, who endorsed me for attorney general of Iowa

Justin Brady: And so at this point, just the, the status of the Libertarian Party as it is, do In Iowa

Marco Battaglia: specifically

Justin Brady: well, in Iowa specifically, do you consider the Libertarians, um, a party or more of an advocacy group that r- is able to change, um, the dialogue and change voting

Marco Battaglia: This is lifetime member and they haven’t taken it back. So, um, I think it’s been a party since 1971, so I don’t, um, see it going anywhere. It just goes, it kind of ebbs and flows. And what really happened at our last national convention, uh, before the election was that the president came to speak. So a lot of, not me, but a lot of people that were on the fence, um, I guess got swayed by that. Like, wow, the sitting president came to talk at our convention. And I think they invited Biden too, um, to be fair. Uh, but the president’s the one that showed up and begged for votes. He said he was gonna pardon Ross, uh, uh, is it Ulbrich?

Justin Brady: I don’t remember. That’s a whole nother… I forget about that story too. That’s a

Marco Battaglia: Ross So it was, uh, the guy that did the market where you could sell like anything and drugs, but drugs and guns probably. Um, I think it’s Ross Ulbricht is how you say it. Um, but he did pardon him. So some of the libertarians were like, a very small percentage were like, “Wow, he kept his promise.” So

Justin Brady: Well, obviously you’re still running, and obviously you haven’t given up on your bid to run against, uh, Trone, Garrett, and Nunn in the US I- hou- in the District 3

Marco Battaglia: you heard of, uh, Jo Jorgensen or

Justin Brady: of course. She pr- presidential nominee, uh, federal president obviously a couple years ago.

Marco Battaglia: if I was totally off the ballot and couldn’t get back on in any capacity, I would just shift focus. I would be running with her trying to seek the LP nomination

Justin Brady: Okay, so this is, this is what’s next.

Marco Battaglia: Yeah But that’s only if, uh, if they really say you can’t be on the ballot this cycle,

Justin Brady: If there’s no path. Uh, Marco Battaglia running, a Libertarian candidate for US House Iowa District 3. What is the website if people wanna reach out to you and learn more?

Marco Battaglia: just Battaglia or Marco for Congress, just M-A-R-C-O F-O-R congress.com. And you can search Marco Battaglia or Mark Anderson, or you can even ask the internet on any s- uh, search engine you want, “Is Marco Battaglia the same person as Mark Anderson?” And it will

Justin Brady: It’ll tell you.

Marco Battaglia: that yes, one is my government name and one is, uh, the name I’ve used in my band since, uh, basically when I was right out of high school at Herbert Hoover Huskies.

Justin Brady: Marco, I appreciate you coming on the Iowa Podcast. Thank you

Marco Battaglia: All right. Yeah, anytime. And hopefully, uh, Zachary and Sarah come on too

Justin Brady: Yeah, and we have put in the request for, uh, Congressman Nunn and Senator Trone Garriott, um, to come on the show. Those invitations are open. We have heard from both their campaigns that they’re interested, so obviously you all will be the first to know when that happens. Thanks again, Marco

Marco Battaglia: Ask Zach to bring his evidence that he never showed me.

Justin Brady: We will ask