RFK Jr. urged Iowa Libertarian to end bid for Congress, candidate says

A second Iowa Libertarian congressional candidate says U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called him this month to suggest he drop out of the race.

Rick Stewart, a Libertarian who is running for Congress in northeast Iowa's 2nd District, said he received a call from Kennedy on June 11 and provided a screenshot of the call log to the Des Moines Register.

In a recording of the call with Stewart, Kennedy described himself as a "liaison with the White House" and told Stewart, "if you want to work with us, I will be your advocate."

The Register obtained the recording from Libertarian Party of Iowa Chair Stephanie Berlin, who sat in on the call with Stewart and recorded it.

It's the second time this month that an Iowa Libertarian has accused Kennedy of trying to influence an Iowa race. Marco Battaglia, a candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, said he also received a call from Kennedy this month urging him to drop out.

The Washington Post first reported Kennedy's call with Stewart.

A spokesperson for Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.

The calls from Kennedy come in Iowa's highly competitive 2nd and 3rd congressional districts that will help determine whether Democrats can take control of the U.S. House, an outcome that President Donald Trump has said would be disastrous.

Election forecasters at the Cook Political Report recently shifted the 2nd District from a "likely Republican" win to the more competitive "lean Republican" category.

The seat is open with Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson's decision to run for U.S. Senate. Democrat Lindsay James, Republican Joe Mitchell and independent Dave Bushaw are on the ballot alongside Stewart.

Election forecasters at the Cook Political Report rate the 3rd District as a "toss-up," their most competitive category. Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn faces a challenge from Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott.

A state panel this month booted Battaglia from the 3rd District ballot because his nominating papers did not match his legal name, Mark T. Andersen. He is readying a lawsuit seeking to appeal the decision.

'If you want to work with us, I will be your advocate,' RFK tells Iowa Libertarian

On the call with Stewart, Kennedy repeatedly referenced his own decision to run for president as an independent in 2024 and to ultimately drop out of the race and endorse Trump, who later appointed Kennedy to his cabinet.

"Listen, Rick, I admire what you're doing. I admire your idealism," Kennedy said. "But ultimately you have to ask yourself the same question I did: Is it more important for me to run as an independent, make a point, or could I make an agreement that puts me in a position where I can make a real difference in people's lives? That's all."

Kennedy said that may be something "in the federal government where you think maybe you can do more for people there than having a symbolic run and getting the Libertarian Party on the ticket next time."

"If you want to work with us, I will 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 I'd be more effective doing this than completing my election. So it's the same question for you."

Stewart said he didn't know what kind of opportunities there would be for him in the federal government, at one point saying, "I assume you're not talking about a cabinet position."

"I completely understand your logic and believe me, I'm very sympathetic to it," Stewart said on the call. "But I'm also just an Iowa boy, and I really have no idea - like I said I'm obviously not going to get a cabinet seat - I have absolutely no idea what kind of opportunities in Washington would be available to me."

"I can't go into specifics because, you know, there's legal prohibitions about that," Kennedy responded, adding that "if there's other ways that you think you might be effective, like I said, I will be your advocate."

Stewart asked Kennedy if that would mean working together.

"That could be a possibility," Kennedy said.

'They're going to play every trick they have,' Rick Stewart says

Stewart, who has run for office several times as a Libertarian, told the Register in an interview that the call was the first he's ever received encouraging him to end his bid for office.

But he said it's the kind of thing that's "not unexpected in politics."

"I'm not surprised the Republicans are trying to get me out, the Democrats are trying to get me in. The same thing for Marco," he said. "These are potentially decisive races, can be very close. They're going to play every trick they have that's legal to try and increase their odds of winning. So I'm not really impressed with the whole thing myself."

Stewart will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election after the three-member State Objection Panel dismissed a Republican challenge alleging he failed to qualify because his nominating petitions identified himself as Richard Stewart while his affidavit of candidacy listed his name as Rick Stewart.

Stewart described both the Democratic and Republican parties as "rotten to the core."

"They stink," he said. "Nobody likes them."

He said his campaign is about giving voters another option.

"The reason to be in the race is to give voters the chance to vote for something that they actually like as opposed to two things that they hate," he said.

Stewart said he thinks both the Republicans and Democrats believe his campaign will pull more votes from the Republican candidate. But he said "I disagree with that assessment," saying Libertarians dislike both parties.

"I don't believe I'll take votes away from one party instead of the other party," 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 on X at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RFK Jr. urged Iowa Libertarian to end bid for Congress, candidate says

Reporting by Stephen Gruber-Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK / Des Moines Register

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 5:04 PM.