Derek Wulf controversies, Libertarians challenged

June 15 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

State Representative Derek Wulf speaks at a June 12 rally in West Des Moines (photo first published on Zach Lahn’s campaign Facebook page)

I raced home late Monday afternoon after attending a state panel meeting where Republican officials knocked two of three Libertarian candidates off the ballot. Spencer Dirks and I dug into those challenges in the second part of “KHOI’s Capitol Week.”

The audio from our June 15 show is at the top of this post. Here’s the written recap, for those who would rather read than listen. If your email provider truncates this message, you can read it without interruption here.

I’m heading to Davenport this afternoon for a fundraiser to help cover my reporting expenses. Similar events are scheduled in Newton (June 17), Des Moines (June 24), and Dubuque (June 27), with more in the works for July. If you can’t come but want to chip in—and are not an Iowa elected official, candidate, or paid campaign staffer or consultant on an Iowa campaign—you can make a one-time gift using a credit card, PayPal, Venmo, or personal check (message me for the mailing address), or a recurring donation via credit card or Substack.

Let’s get right to it.

Zach Lahn picks Derek Wulf for lieutenant governor

The Republican nominee for governor announced Friday morning that he chose State Representative Derek Wulf to be his running mate. Wulf lives and farms in Black Hawk County and chairs the Iowa House Agriculture Committee.

Iowa GOP staff blocked me from covering the Republican state convention on Saturday. But according to Radio Iowa’s O.Kay Henderson, there was only momentary drama when a delegate nominated Adam Steen for lieutenant governor. Steen declined to be considered, so delegates unanimously approved Wulf as Lahn’s running mate.

Wulf was among the first batch of Iowa legislators to endorse Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. So Lahn’s pick may have been in part a gesture toward Trump, who endorsed Randy Feenstra for governor days before the primary election.

Wulf is also on good terms with Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, who chooses the committee leaders in the chamber.

Lahn hails Wulf’s work on “right to repair”

In a written statement on Friday, Lahn said, “Derek has been an Iowa First fighter for years in the legislature. Whether it was leading on Right to Repair, defending private property rights, or stopping corporate overreach - Derek has been there for Iowans.”

Wulf worked on several versions of right to repair legislation this year. I posted his comments from an Iowa House subcommittee.

Wulf was able to get that bill through the Iowa House in April, with strong bipartisan support (and some bipartisan opposition). It didn’t advance in the Iowa Senate.

The Lahn campaign created a social media video featuring Wulf talking about this issue. He says large corporations are making record profits “on the backs of farmers” who are not able to cover their production costs. Being able to repair their own equipment would help “make farmers more efficient,” according to Wulf.

Wulf supported pesticide immunity bill

Wulf was among the Iowa legislators trying to pass a bill that would give broad legal immunity to pesticide and herbicide manufacturers. Lahn has condemned that idea and has connected farm chemicals like glyphosate (the main active agent in Roundup) with Iowa’s high cancer rate.

Bayer has spent a lot of money lobbying the Iowa legislature to pass a pesticide immunity bill. Iowa Senate Republicans approved a bill in 2024 and 2025, but it never got out of committee in the Iowa House.

Lahn is doing regenerative agriculture and organic farming on the family farm he purchased in Benton County. Picking Wulf could reassure Republicans aligned with Big Ag (who were largely backing Feenstra). As House Agriculture Committee chair, Wulf is on good terms with the major agricultural groups–even though the equipment dealers like John Deere didn’t like his efforts on right to repair.

Lahn has previously said he would veto any immunity bill that reached his desk. But in response to my questions about Wulf’s support for this bill, the Lahn campaign sent me these comments on Monday afternoon:

As a farmer himself, Wulf understands better than anyone that the agricultural economy has been built around tools like Roundup that farmers across Iowa have relied on for decades. There needs to be a realistic off-ramp that protects farmers and allows them to adapt, not policies that pull the rug out from under them overnight.

He does not support blanket immunity, and has never voted for blanket immunity.

Both times the Iowa Senate debated this bill, proponents used the same talking point, saying the legislation would not provide “blanket immunity.” But as Democratic State Senator Matt Blake explained during the 2025 floor debate (watch here) it would create “an absolute immunity from the consequences of giving Iowans cancer."

In theory, Iowans could still sue a company like Bayer under other theories, but those approaches (e.g. “breach of warranty” or “design defect”) cover things like the failure of a product to function properly. If Iowa passed a law stating that product labels were sufficient to warn the public of danger, it would defeat any claim filed by someone whose health problems (cancer, birth defects, Parkinson’s) were caused by exposure to farm chemicals.

Corporate-funded group thanked Wulf for supporting immunity bill

An agricultural lobby group founded by Bayer, called the Modern Ag Alliance, ran an ad in the Des Moines Register in October 2024 thanking legislators who supported the pesticide immunity bill. The ad listed sixteen Republicans serving in the Iowa Senate and twelve in the Iowa House, including Wulf.

This ad ran a few days after a number of Republican legislators, including Wulf, attended country music singer Luke Bryan’s concert in Des Moines on October 6, 2024. Bayer was one of the corporate sponsors of Bryan’s tour that year.

There was a VIP event before the show where the lawmakers were able to meet Bryan. Some took selfies with Bryan against a screen with the Modern Ag Alliance logo and slogan (“control weeds not farming”). Here’s fellow Iowa House Republican Josh Meggers.

In response to my questions, Lahn’s campaign didn’t tell me who paid for those concert tickets. A spokesperson sent me this statement:

Wulf attended Luke Bryan’s concert as part of the singer’s Farm Tour, which invites members of the farming community to attend his shows as a thank-you for their contributions to agriculture. Wulf was invited alongside a bipartisan group of members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees in recognition of their support for Iowa agriculture.

Are they implying the singer comped the tickets? If Bayer or the Modern Ag Alliance paid for them, that could run afoul of Iowa’s gift law. Please reach out if you know how these concert tickets were arranged; I’ll keep private tips confidential.

UPDATE: Lahn’s campaign spokesperson Meg Deneen told me via email on June 16, “Wulf has never stated that he supported this legislation.” She added, “Let’s not make this anything it’s not, he attended a Luke Bryan concert.” She noted that this bill never came up for a vote on the Iowa House floor, and said “Derek Wulf does not support Senate File 2412.” That is very surprising.

Wulf’s legal and financial entanglements

I spent some time over the weekend going through court filings related to Derek Wulf’s business, Shallow Creek Land and Livestock LLC. There has been quite a lot of litigation against Derek Wulf and/or his business over the past few years.

To be clear: not everything in a court filing is proven–sometimes those are just allegations from a creditor. But there have been a few recent judgments against Wulf or his business.

• In January 2026 there was a judgment against him in Black Hawk County District Court for $20,691.43 plus costs.

• In April 2026 there was an order for default judgment against him in Sioux County District Court for $182,244.70, plus court costs and interest. Four County Pig Placement had filed their petition in February, and no attorney representing Wulf ever filed a response (normally you have to do that within 20 days of receiving notice of a suit).

• In May 2026, WCF Financial Bank in Webster City filed a petition for foreclosure and enforcement of security agreements. They claim Shallow Creek Land and Livestock, LLC had an unpaid balance of $584,356.71 as of November 2025. They are seeking a money judgment of that amount “plus accrued and accruing interest, late charges, advances, costs, and reasonable attorney fees.” They are trying to foreclose on a mortgage and also claim collateral (including livestock, grain, feed, machinery, equipment, and proceeds).

• Just last week, on June 8, the Heartland Co-op filed an application for default entry in Polk County District Court. They had gone to court seeking to collect $149,214.55 (as of April 20) plus monthly finance fees and court costs. Defendants never answered their motion or filed anything with the court.

In response to my questions, the Lahn campaign sent this statement on Monday:

Derek is in the middle of a routine re-financing. When that is completed, all creditors will be paid. In the meantime, he’s not going to enrich litigation attorneys with rounds of needless back and forth. He’s focused on getting the re-finance done.

I wondered how much Lahn knew about this litigation when he asked Wulf to be his running mate. None of this information was hard to find. You just have to type “Derek Wulf” in the Iowa Courts Online database as defendant or respondent. Lots of people reached out to me over the weekend to flag these concerns.

The Lahn campaign didn’t clarify whether he knew about the legal issues before Friday, but they told me in a statement:

As for Zach Lahn, he is aware that Derek, like many Iowa farmers, has faced financial challenges during a difficult agricultural economy. He knows Derek is an honest man who is fighting to preserve his family farm and support his family. This situation highlights exactly what this campaign is focused on: ensuring family farms can remain in family hands instead of being forced into the control of large banks and corporations.

Clearly these are tough times for many farmers.

Other allegations in the court filings

These court cases are civil disputes over money, mostly related to unpaid bills or obligations. Some plaintiffs allege Wulf missed deadlines or did not show up for mandatory mediation with a creditor.

I asked the Lahn campaign about a couple of points. The petition for foreclosure filed by WCF Financial Bank refers to a “pending criminal investigation” by the Black Hawk County Attorney’s office concerning the disposition of collateral. This seemed to relate to alleged livestock sales.

I called the Black Hawk County attorney’s office on Monday morning. Not surprisingly, they would not confirm whether there is or has been any criminal investigation related to Wulf’s farm operation. I also reached out to the attorney for WCF Financial Bank to see if they could confirm whether they referred the matter for criminal investigation. At this writing, I haven’t heard back.

A court filing from Heartland Co-op claimed Wulf tried to make payments in February and March 2026 from a bank account that had been closed months earlier.

The Lahn campaign told me unequivocally,

The characterization of these events as fraud is simply an allegation made by an opposing party in ongoing litigation, and Wulf strongly disputes it. The underlying issue involves payment processing and account transitions associated with the farm’s financing, not any effort to avoid legitimate obligations.

There is no criminal investigation of Derek Wulf by the Black Hawk County Attorney’s Office. Allegations suggesting otherwise are unfounded.

WCF Financial also asserted the Wulfs had not paid all property taxes on time. Lahn’s spokesperson told me, “The Wulfs’ property taxes are current and all required tax obligations have been addressed. Claims suggesting otherwise are inaccurate.”

Controversy over Wulf’s residence

Wulf is finishing up his second term in the Iowa House. The first time he ran for the House district 76 in 2022, he didn’t register to vote at his home, but at an address in Waterloo. That’s because his farm in Hudson is in House district 54 (represented by Josh Meggers). Wulf’s Democratic opponent in 2022 criticized him for running in a neighboring district, and KCRG-TV covered the story at that time.

The Iowa Secretary of State’s candidate lists for the 2024 election and the 2026 primary listed a post office box for Wulf. Most of the court filings I reviewed listed his legal address at his farm in Hudson. So I reached out to the Lahn campaign to find out where he is curently registered to vote.

They confirmed he is registered to vote “at his farm” at the Waterloo address, which they described as “a few miles down the road from his home in Hudson.”

As I’ve reported before, Iowa law is lenient on where you can be registered to vote. As long as you own or rent the location listed on your voter registration, you don’t have to prove you sleep there or spend any significant time there.

As the lieutenant governor nominee, Wulf could live anywhere in Iowa, so arguably it’s no longer relevant whether he lives in House district 76 or 54.

Do these controversies matter?

We spent a minute considering whether any of the above information about Wulf matters. I doubt many voters will chose between Lahn and Rob Sand based on the lieutenant governor candidates. But this pick does raise questions about whether Lahn and his team did their homework.

It also makes me wonder when Lahn started interviewing possible running mates, and whether Wulf was his first choice. If he didn’t expect to win the primary, he didn’t have much time to vet and interview the various contenders. He had only ten days to name his running mate before the June 13 state convention.

You never want the running mate to create controversy. So there were probably safer picks for Lahn. I expected him to choose a woman, especially since (as we discussed on last week’s show) Democrats are running an all-male ticket for statewide offices for the first time in 40-plus years. Some of my contacts say State Representatives Heather Hora and Brooke Boden were considered for the lieutenant governor position, but I don’t know whether anyone else was offered the job.

Another point worth noting: Sand’s campaign has a ton of money in the bank. We don’t know whether documents I found on Iowa Courts Online represent the full extent of problems connected to Wulf’s business. If any damaging information emerges about the Republican ticket, Democrats will be able to get that out to a wide audience.

So far, I haven’t seen any Democrats raise concerns about Wulf’s legal or financial issues. They have focused on his record in the legislature. For instance, the Sand campaign’s first statement on Lahn’s running mate portrayed Wulf as “a partisan insider who voted to gut the Auditor’s Office, opening the door to waste, fraud, and abuse of tax dollars, helped pass an unaccountable school voucher program that is draining resources from public schools, and even led efforts to weaken oversight of Iowa’s water quality.”

Do you think any of these controversies will affect how many Iowans support Lahn for governor?

Trump backs away from Feenstra

We reported earlier this month that after President Donald Trump endorsed Feenstra for governor shortly before the primary, Lahn speculated that the president got bad advice. The president seems to agree—he told reporters in the Oval Office last Thursday that “had I been given the proper information, which I don’t think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person.”

I thought it was funny that Trump didn’t seem to know Lahn’s name, but praised him: “The man running against him was all Trump […] The other person was much more Trump, as you know, than Randy.”

Of course, we’d all like to know who persuaded Trump to get behind Feenstra last month.

State panel keeps Rick Stewart on ballot in IA-02

On Monday afternoon, Iowa’s State Objection Panel heard challenges to three Libertarian candidates and removed two of them from the ballot. Republicans brought objections Rick Stewart running in the second Congressional district, Marco Battaglia in the third Congressional district, and Nicholas Gluba running for governor.

(They did not find any grounds to challenge Thomas Laehn, the Libertarian running for U.S. Senate. So he will definitely be on the November ballot, along with Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek.)

The shortest deliberation of the day was about Rick Stewart (watch here). The objection said he should be struck from the ballot because his nominating petitions said Richard Stewart, but he sought to be named on the ballot as Rick Stewart. There’s lost of precedent for Iowa candidates running under shortened versions of their names. Secretary of State Paul Pate, Attorney General Brenna Bird, and State Auditor Rob Sand unanimously voted to reject the objection.

After the meeting I asked Alan Ostergren, the attorney representing the objector, whether he plans to appeal the panel’s decision to district court. He said he didn’t know yet.

For now, Rick Stewart is on the ballot in the second Congressional district, along with Democrat Lindsay James, Republican Joe Mitchell, and independent Dave Bushaw (who is running a progressive populist campaign).

Panel strikes Marco Battaglia from ballot in IA-03

The same panel voted 2-1 along party lines to exclude Marco Battaglia, because that is a fictitious name. His legal name is Mark T. Andersen. You can watch those deliberations here.

I’ve covered Battaglia for years and never knew that wasn’t his legal name. All four times he has run for office before, it was as Marco Battaglia.

Ostergren was also representing the Republicans who filed this objection. They are Wes Enos, who works on Zach Nunn’s Congressional staff, and Annie Kuhle, a consultant for Nunn’s campaign.

Ostergren argued that if the panel allowed Battaglia to remain on the ballot, it could open the door to lots of problems. By way of example: someone could collect signatures to get on the ballot as Chuck Grassley, which would mislead voters.

Stephanie Berlin, who chairs the Libertarian Party of Iowa, spoke on behalf of Battaglia. Among other things, she argued that Iowa Code refers to the candidate’s name. It doesn’t say “legal name” or “real name.”

But Bird argued that Iowa Code doesn’t allow people to run for office under a fictitious name. Pate was troubled that someone trying to research the candidate’s background wouldn’t find any information about him because they would have no way of knowing they should search for Mark Andersen.

Sand would have kept Marco Battaglia on the ballot, for a couple of reasons. He’s run under that name before and never been challenged for that reason, so under the legal doctrine of estoppel, it might be considered unfair to exclude him now. Sand also suggested it would be more confusing to voters if the Libertarian ran as Mark Andersenm because there are lots of Iowans with that name, but no one else in Iowa is named Marco Battaglia.

The panel didn’t consider a second challenge to Battaglia’s petitions, filed by Annie Kuhle, after voting to exclude him due to the name issue.

Nunn and his campaign don’t want Battaglia on the ballot for obvious reasons: votes for Libertarians may have helped Democrat Cindy Axne win in IA-03 in 2018 and 2020. However, it’s worth noting that Battaglia takes some positions that align with the left, such as abolishing ICE or ending the war on drugs. So it is possible he could pull votes on the left that might otherwise go to Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott.

Panel strikes Libertarians from governor’s race

The state panel spent a long time on that third objection and eventually voted unanimously to exclude Nicholas Gluba and Jules Cutler from the ballot as the Libertarian candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. I posted that video here.

Sand recused himself from considering this challenge, because he is the Democratic nominee for governor. So Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig filled in, as he did in March, when the same panel heard the objection to Republican candidate Eddie Andrews’ petitions before the primary.

Republicans objected to Gluba’s candidacy on four grounds, but the panel only considered one of them: Cutler didn’t submit an affidavit of candidacy when they filed their paperwork.

There was a factual dispute over whether a staffer for the Secretary of State’s office (wrongly) told Libertarians the affidavit wasn’t necessary, or whether Cutler didn’t provide it. Unfortunately, I did not witness that interaction. I interviewed the Libertarian candidates at the state capitol on June 2, but I didn’t walk over with them to the nearby Lucas Building which is where they turned in their paperwork.

Bird said she would go with the staffer’s word on what happened. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Cutler was very critical of how the panel handled the objection. She pointed out that multiple people say Cutler did offer the affidavit. The staffer told the panel she couldn’t remember who was there when Gluba turned in his papers, so how could she remember for sure that Cutler didn’t provide one document?

Libertarians will appeal ballot decisions

Libertarian Party leaders confirmed they will fight these decisions in court. In Gluba’s case there are several issues they could raise. For instance, their attorney raised questions about whether Pate should have recused himself, because there was a factual dispute involving his subordinate. The idea is that Pate might have an interest in not acknowledging if his staffer made a mistake.

Battaglia’s legal arguments are straightforward: voters know him as Marco Battaglia, he’s run for office under that name before, and Iowa Code doesn’t specify that candidates have to use legal names.

These appeals would go to a Polk County District Court. The losing party could appeal them to the Iowa Supreme Court, which would hear the case(s) on an expedited schedule. In 2022 the District Court found that Abby Finkenauer should be excluded from the Democratic primary ballot for U.S. Senate, but the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously reversed that decision.

Generally, Iowa courts have moved in the direction of “strict compliance” on most rules related to elections, which is why the Libertarian candidates didn’t make it onto the November ballot in 2024. That was also a unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling.

Libertarians say Republicans pressured their candidates to withdraw

On Monday morning, the national Libertarian Party “condemned an escalating campaign of intimidation by Republican operatives” to exclude Iowa candidates from the ballot. And Battaglia says Nunn, his consultant Annie Kuhle, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally pushed him to withdraw his candidacy.

I interviewed Battaglia about this on Friday. What he told me is consistent with what the Des Moines Register reported in this article. Nunn and Kuhle came to Battaglia’s house to talk with him and urged him to drop out before Republicans filed their challenge on June 9. They alleged that his signatures had been improperly collected by a Democratic “dark money” group.

I couldn’t independently confirm that RFK called Battaglia, but Libertarian Party of Iowa leaders say RFK also called Rick Stewart to urge him to drop out in IA-02.

The statement from Libertarians claimed Republicans “offered inducements” and threatened “legal warfare” if Battaglia didn’t drop out. I asked Battaglia about the inducements yesterday. He said Nunn offered to fly him to Washington, D.C. to “be my wingman” for election integrity, and they would hang out with RFK Jr.

He said they implied that his signatures were collected fraudulently, but they didn’t show any proof of that and that wasn’t part of the objection to his nominating papers.

Battaglia showed me text messages on his phone from Kuhle (I called the number to confirm it was hers). The text messages I reviewed included one in which Kuhle said they believe his signatures were collected in bad faith. She warned there would be “multiple challenges to your signatures and additional legal action, as necessary.” She questioned how Battaglia would file a truthful Federal Elections Commission report to account for the in-kind contributions.

After Battaglia informed Kuhle that his family agreed he shouldn’t withdraw, she replied,

You should ask your family to reconsider. I say that out of deep concern for the enormous financial strain you are likely to put them under with the legal action coming your way. These signatures were not gathered correctly.

Hoping for the best for you and your family.

In a statement provided to the media, Kuhle alleged that there is “strong evidence” that dark money groups tied to Democrats helped collect Battaglia’s signatures. She said she informed the Libertarian she planned to investigate and “I also asked whether he would be willing to cooperate with that investigation. No offer, inducement or thing of value was ever proposed or provided in exchange for withdrawing the nomination petitions.”

Even if groups tied to Democrats did help collect signatures for Battaglia, that’s not illegal as far as I know.

Democrats formally nominate Muhlbauer

I spent most of Saturday at the Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention in Des Moines. The order of business included formally approving Dave Muhlbauer as the candidate for lieutenant governor. No one else was nominated for that position.

Muhlbauer’s speech, which I posted here, was very well received. He talked about it being “time to rotate the crops” and said that as a local official, he often hears from people “upset with the direction our state is headed in.” He hit on many themes Sand has frequently mentioned in campaign stops, including the decline in public schools and poor economic performance.

Republicans criticize Muhlbauer farm pollution

Last Tuesday, the Iowa GOP issued a statement criticizing Muhlbauer, saying his “family feedlot was repeatedly investigated and ultimately fined after manure-contaminated runoff entered Iowa streams and tributaries.” These allegations stem from 2009 to 2016.

On Saturday, I asked Muhlbauer to respond to this criticism. Here’s what he and Sand told me.

Muhlbauer said this represents “the everyday challenges” that livestock producers have. He said he and his father looked at those problems and fixed them, and were always trying to do their best. He argued he’s better suited to face similar challenges and help other farmers fix the problem.

Sand highlighted the “difference between a mistake and a choice.” As a farmer, sometimes you make a mistake, but Sand said Derek Wulf voted against funding water quality monitors and has toed the line on “everything that has led us to have atrocious water quality.”

Other news from the Democratic convention

We didn’t have much time to discuss the Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention. I uploaded videos of all the candidate speeches to my YouTube channel. A post in progress will cover highlights from each Democrat’s pitch to voters.

Maya Marchel Hoff’s story for the Des Moines Register quoted state party chair Rita Hart as saying “the party has the ‘biggest grassroots field operation’ in a decade, with county party chairs in all 99 of Iowa’s counties, 60 organizers already hired and 25 field offices in the process of opening.”

That would be more field offices in Iowa than Democrats have had since Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

As for other speeches, Senate candidate Josh Turek got a smattering of boos when he took the stage. Some delegates were upset about his campaign’s statement after the primary saying Turek doesn’t support transgender participation in girls’ sports or gender-affirming care for minors. Additionally, some were upset Turek voted for a Republican immigration bill in 2024, which was an issue in the Democratic primary.

Overall, though, Turek’s speech was well-received, as were remarks from secretary of state candidate Ryan Peterman, state auditor candidate Taylor Wettach, attorney general candidate Nate Willems, state treasurer candidate John Norwood, and especially secretary of agriculture candidate Chris Jones. The only Congressional candidate to speak was Dave Dawson in the fourth district.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading or listening!