Listen as RFK Jr. urges Iowa Libertarian candidate to withdraw U.S. House bid
A second Iowa Libertarian Congressional candidate says Robert F. Kennedy Jr. encouraged him to withdraw from the race. You can listen here.
- Libertarian Rick Stewart said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has asked him to consider canceling his bid for Congress in northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.
- “If you want to work with us, I’ll be your advocate,” Kennedy told Stewart, according to a recording of the call obtained by the Des Moines Register.
- Mr. Stewart is the second Iowa Libertarian Party candidate for Congress to accuse Mr. Kennedy of calling him and asking him to resign. President Kennedy’s press secretary did not respond to a request for comment.
A second Iowa Libertarian Congressional candidate said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called him this month to withdraw from the race.
Rick Stewart, a liberal running for Congress in Northeast Iowa’s 2nd District, said he received a phone call from Kennedy on June 11 and provided a screenshot of the call to the Des Moines Register.
In a recorded call with Stewart, Kennedy referred to himself as his “liaison to the White House” and told Stewart, “If you want to work with us, I’ll be your spokesperson.”
The Register obtained the recording from Iowa Freedom Party Leader Stephanie Berlin, who was present and recorded the call with Stewart.
This is the second time this month that Iowa Libertarians have accused Kennedy of trying to influence Iowa elections. Marco Battaglia, a candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, also said he received a call from Kennedy this month urging him to withdraw.
The Washington Post first reported the call between President Kennedy and Stewart.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.
Kennedy’s calls come in Iowa’s battleground 2nd and 3rd districts, which will determine whether Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, an outcome that President Donald Trump says will be dire.
Cook Political Report’s election forecasters recently moved the 2nd District from a “likely Republican win” to a more competitive “weak Republican” category.
The seat became vacant after Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson decided to run for the Senate. Democrat Lindsay James, Republican Joe Mitchell and independent Dave Bushau are on the ballot alongside Stewart.
Cook Political Report’s election forecasters rate the 3rd District as a “toss-up,” the most competitive category. Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn faces a challenge from Democrat Sarah Tron Garriott.
The state board removed Mr. Battaglia from the District 3 ballot earlier this month because his nomination papers did not match his real name, Mark T. Andersen. He is preparing a lawsuit to appeal this decision.
“If you want to work with us, I will be your advocate,” RFK tells Iowa Libertarian.
In the call with Stewart, Kennedy repeatedly referred to his decision to run as an independent in the 2024 presidential election, ultimately dropping out of the race and supporting Trump, who later appointed Kennedy to his cabinet.
“Look, Rick, I respect what you’re doing. I respect your idealism,” Kennedy said. “But ultimately you have to ask yourself the same questions I did: Is it more important to me to run as an independent and advocate, or can I get a deal that puts me in a position where I can make a real difference in people’s lives? That’s it.”
Kennedy said it might be “to think that maybe there’s more we can do for people in the federal government than just run symbolically and elect the Libertarian Party next time.”
“If you want to work with us, I’ll be your advocate,” Kennedy said. “You know, I’m not saying this is going to fix the country, because it’s not. The two-party system is broken. That’s why I ran as an independent. But at some point, I made a pragmatic choice that this would be more effective than ending the election. So the same question for you.”
Stewart said he didn’t know what opportunities would be available to him in the federal government, saying at one point, “I don’t think we’re talking about a cabinet position.”
“I completely understand and believe your logic. I have great sympathy for it,” Stewart said by phone. “But I’m also just a kid from Iowa, and I have no idea. Like I said, I’m obviously not going to run for a Cabinet seat. I have no idea what opportunities will be available to me in Washington.”
“I can’t go into detail about that because it’s legally prohibited,” Kennedy responded, adding, “If there’s another method that you think would be effective, like I said, I’ll be your advocate.”
Stewart asked Kennedy if that meant cooperating.
“That’s a possibility,” Kennedy said.
“They’re going to pull all kinds of tricks,” says Rick Stewart.
Stewart, who has run for president several times as a Libertarian, said in an interview with the Register that this was the first time he had received a phone call urging him not to run for president.
But he said this was “not unexpected in politics.”
“I’m not surprised that the Republicans are trying to get me out, but the Democrats are trying to get me in as well. Same goes for Marco,” he said. “These are potentially decisive races and they can be very close. They’re going to do every trick that’s legal to increase their chances of winning. So I’m not too impressed with all of this myself.”
Mr. Stewart will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election after a three-member state objections board rejected a Republican challenge because his name was listed as Rick Stewart on the nomination petition but was listed as Richard Stewart on the nominating petition.
Stewart described both the Democratic and Republican parties as “rotten to the core.”
“It stinks,” he said. “Nobody likes them.”
He said his campaign is about giving voters new options.
“The reason we’re in the race is to give voters the opportunity to vote for something they actually like, rather than something they don’t like,” he said.
Stewart said both Republicans and Democrats believe his campaign will draw more votes from Republican candidates. But he said Libertarians hate both parties and “I don’t agree with that assessment.”
“I don’t think I’m going to take votes away from one party and not the other,” he said.
Stephen Gruber Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com, by phone at 515-284-8169, or at @sgrubermiller.
