Rick Stewart wasn’t expecting to hear Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s distinctive voice when he answered his phone on June 11. It was an unsolicited call, in which the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary pushed Stewart, the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 2nd District, to drop out of the race.
Kennedy suggested Stewart quitting would make it easier for the Republican candidate to win the seat currently occupied by Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate, which would make it easier for Republicans to keep control of Congress in the November election. Three days earlier, Kennedy had called the Libertarian running in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District and delivered a similar message.
There is one big difference in the two calls: Stewart recorded part of his call and shared the recording with the Washington Post. The Post included the recording in a story it published on Thursday.
Early in the call, before Stewart started recording, Kennedy said “he was acting as a ‘liaison’ with the White House,” the Post reported. In the three-minute, 25-second recording the Post published, the HHS secretary can be heard not just pushing Stewart to give up what Kennedy called a “symbolic run” which will only win “3 or 4 percent” of the vote, but also vaguely suggesting he’ll get Stewart a job in the Trump administration if he does.
“Yeah, well, you know I can’t go into specifics because there’s legal prohibitions about that,” Kennedy tells Stewart about getting him a job in Washington D.C.
Kennedy is correct; it is illegal to offer a candidate a government job in exchange for quitting a race.
The recording begins with Kennedy explaining he’s worried about congressional investigations if Democratic win control of the House of Representatives.
I mean, from my point of view, the next two years is [sic] critical for an agenda that I would like to see. I don’t want to be fighting subpoenas for the next two years instead of improving America’s health.
For me, you know, for me there’s an immediate pragmatic reason for this phone call. And, um, the question for you is not whether a Republican is going to solve any of the problems that you’re dealing with, that you’re concerned about. Or whether you may be able to solve more problems in a different position, than going in and winning 3 or 4 percent of an election.
So that’s just, you know, if uh, if uh…
I admire what you’re doing, I admire your idealism. And, uh, but, you know, 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.
Stewart starts to reply, but only manages to get out a single syllable, “Oh,” before Kennedy begins speaking again.
Maybe something that you ought to do in federal government where you think maybe you can do more for people there than having a, you know, symbolic run and getting the Libertarian Party on the ticket [sic] next time, which are both admirable goals.
Oh, it’s a personal issue. If you want to work with us, I will be your advocate.
You know, I’m not saying this is going to fix the country, ’cause it’s not. The two-party system is broken. That’s why, you know, I ran as an independent. But, um, you know, at some point I made a pragmatic choice that I’d be more effective doing this than complete my election. [sic]
So, it’s the same question for you.
“OK, I completely understand your logic, and believe me, I’m, uh, very sympathetic to it,” Stewart said. “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’ve, I’ve spent extremely small amount of time [sic] in Washington D.C.”
“Yeah, well, you know I can’t go into specifics because there’s legal prohibitions about that,” Kennedy replied. “If it’s something that you want to work on together, I’m, there’s other ways that you think you might be effective.” [sic]
“You know, like I said, I will be your advocate.”
Stewart told the Post, “I’m not planning on leaving the race. I’m certainly not pulling out to help my Republican opponent.”
The Post reached Kennedy by phone on Thursday morning, but he “declined to comment and referred questions to a spokesperson, who did not immediately respond.”
According to Stewart, before he received the call from Kennedy, he’d already met with Joe Mitchell, the Republican candidate in the 2nd District, at Mitchell’s request.
Stewart said Mitchell also asked him “to pull out because he’s afraid I’ll take votes away from him.”
On June 7, Zach Nunn, the Republican incumbent in the 3rd District, met with Marco Battaglia, the Libertarian then running in the 3rd, and tried to convince him to quit. It didn’t work. Kennedy called Battaglia the next day.
“He was very polite,” Battaglia told the Des Moines Register. “He basically just did a very casual politician, ‘You should drop out,’ situation.”
Battaglia said he later texted Kennedy to tell him was not dropping out.
On June 15, the same day the Register reported Kennedy’s phone call to Battaglia, the State Objection Panel decided Battaglia will not be allowed to appear on the ballot in November’s election. That decision came in response to complaints from Republicans, including a campaign advisor to Zach Nunn, about the paperwork submitted to qualify for the election.
The panel’s vote was 2-1, with its lone Democrat, Auditor Rob Sand, voting in favor of Battaglia being included as a candidate in the 3rd District election. Sand was outvoted by his Republican colleagues, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of State Paul Pate.
