Jake Porter wins Libertarian Iowa governor primary, will face Fred Hubbell and Kim Reynolds

Brianne Pfannenstiel | The Des Moines Register

Jake Porter won the Libertarian nomination for governor Tuesday, defeating opponent Marco Battaglia.

According to the Secretary of State's unofficial election results, Porter earned about 54 percent of the vote over Battaglia's 38 percent. About 7 percent of Libertarian primary voters opted for a write-in candidate.

Porter will face Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Democrat Fred Hubbell in the fall.

Porter is a business consultant from Council Bluffs and a former retail manager. He has associate's and bachelor's degrees in business from AIB College of Business. He said he’s been a member of the Libertarian Party since he was 16 years old and helped establish the party in Iowa.

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Battaglia is a Des Moines native who studied communications at the University of Northern Iowa. He’s a musician who has worked as a journalist as well as in insurance, banking and home mortgage businesses.

Related:

The Libertarian Party of Iowa gained major-party status under Iowa law after winning more than 2 percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential race, earning the ability to hold primary elections in 2018.

The party’s presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, received 3.8 percent of the vote during the November 2016 general election.