Libertarian candidates Charles Aldrich and Rick Stewart are 2 of the 35 Iowa candidates running in this year’s midterm election.

While turnout for libertarians has been low throughout Iowa history— no libertarian has won a major election in Iowa history — Stewart and Aldrich hope to overcome the odds.

“What people need to realize is that libertarians are the third party in Iowa,” said Stewart, who is running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. “We are a major party and we want people to know there are three choices on the ballot, not two.”

Aldrich, who is running for the Fourth District of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he is setting himself apart from his opponents J.D. Scholten and incumbent Steve King by doing more interviews, going to more meetings and refusing to take corporate money.

Meet the candidates:

Rick Stewart

Stewart is a native Iowan from Maquoketa, Iowa where he grew up on a 5-acre, and later a 20-acre, hobby farm. He had a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014, placing third in the race against Joni Ernst and Bruce Braley.

As secretary of agriculture, Stewart said he would remove the Renewable Fuel Standard, a program requiring all fuels sold to require a certain percentage of biofuels. This raises the price of crops artificially as biofuels require crops to produce.

“Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses well I say the Renewable Fuel Standard is the opiate of corn farmers,” Stewart said. “They can’t get off of it, they are hooked. Eventually this program will end because these things don’t last forever.”

Stewart also said he would focus on ensuring the water exiting the state through streams would be clean.

“We don’t charge farmers when they pollute rivers, instead the taxpayers are the one who clean it up,” Stewart said. “It is a basic economic principle that those farmers will continue to pollute if they aren’t the ones paying for it. I say we keep the water leaving the state as clean as when it comes in, and I would say rain water is pretty clean.”

Calling subsidies to farmers “welfare checks,” Stewart said he would end farm subsidies making it more fair while upholding the integrity and pride of Iowa farmers.

“Why don’t we support horse breeders, or mechanics, or shoe makers: we don’t,” Stewart said. “Why is it that we treat farmers like a special class of people. Every Iowa farmer is too proud to accept subsidies; I have never met a farmer who is proud of their welfare check”

The last thing Stewart said was on his agenda was eliminating tariffs saying they were “for losers.”

Charles Aldrich

If Aldrich were to take incumbent Steve King’s congressional seat he would eliminate all taxes on people making “poverty wages,” which he defines as $350 a week or $1,500 a month.

In addition to this, he said businesses paying their workers a so-called poverty wage should not pay taxes on those employees as they are likely doing so do to financial burdens of their own.

“There is a saying you can’t get milk from a dead cow,” Aldrich said. “Well you can’t tax someone who has no money.”

Aldrich said he would also work to end the drug war, and “let doctors decide what is best for a patient.”

“People die taking aspirin or drinking alcohol, and those are legal,” Aldrich said. “[Marijuana] hasn’t killed anyone. And it’s illegal. Those who are addicted should have access to less harmful pharmaceutical grade drugs as well. You should be able to do what you want to or for yourself.”

Both Stewart and Aldrich talked about the libertarian principle of non-aggression. Speaking against the United States current military involvement, Aldrich said the military should be defensive unless attacked first. Aldrich said military involvement should also only be done through an act by congress.