Jake Porter, a business consultant from Council Bluffs, defeated Marco Battaglia, a businessman from Des Moines in the Libertarian Party of Iowa’s first gubernatorial primary.
Porter, who was the Libertarian Party nominee for Iowa Secretary of State in 2010 and 2014 won 54.38 percent of the vote and Battaglia won 38.33% percent out 1,769 total primary voters statewide.
Iowa recognized the Libertarian Party of Iowa as a political party in 2016 after Gary Johnson received over 2% of the 2016 Presidential vote total in Iowa. This gave the party ballot access and allowed the party to hold a primary election.
The Libertarian Party of Iowa also held a straw poll during their caucus meetings in January which Porter won 65 percent to 23 percent. They are the only political party to offer that for a gubernatorial race.
The Governor’s race is the only one that featured a contested primary for the party. Libertarian voters across the state only saw 13 candidates on their first primary ballot.
Porter will run face Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the Republican incumbent, and Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell who won the Democratic nomination decisively.