(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa judge has affirmed that the Lyon County Sheriff will be able to seek reelection — as a Libertarian Party candidate. Lyon County Sheriff Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep ran as a Republican in the June Primary, but lost the G-O-P nomination to Iowa State Trooper Brian Hilt. One person wrote the sheriff’s name on the Libertarian Party’s Primary ballot, so the sheriff became the Libertarian Party’s nominee instead.

Hilt — the Republican who beat the sheriff in the G-O-P primary — asked a judge to reverse a Lyon County Objection Panel’s decision that the sheriff had qualified for the November ballot.

Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep (Photo provided by KIWA)

The judge, in his decision, said the trooper’s argument that the sheriff shouldn’t win the Libertarian Party’s nomination was arguably supported by common sense — since got it by a single write-in vote, but the judge said that conclusion is not supported by state law.