Greetings all. Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, one of our most promising candidates anywhere in the country this cycle, dropped by to talk to us earlier today. A video recording and rough transcript of our conversation can be found above. I am excited to introduce him to our community, and to endorse him in his race for Governor today.
In 2018, running on a very aggressive anti-corruption platform, Rob unseated the incumbent State Auditor in Iowa. In 2022, in a year when Republicans won the Governor’s race by 18 points and prevailed in every other statewide election, Rob was re-elected to his position - a remarkable achievement in what was a very tough year in Iowa. With a much more favorable climate this time Rob has led in early polling in the Governor’s race by double digits. Yes, double digits.
Here’s the first ad of his gubernatorial campaign:
Here’s a great image from recent NYT coverage of the race:
In our discussion Rob talks about something we often talk about here - if we are win in red state and red places, as he has repeatedly, we need to far more intentional about competing for voters and communities we have often shied away from:
if we want to be a big tent party, you got to actually welcome people in under the tent, not blame them for being outside of it when it's too hot and sunny or when it's raining. You say, hey, yeah, we have space here. And I don't think that we've done a good job of that.
But that's part of my frustration with party politics in general. You get so many people who are focused on the idea of red or blue, and you miss just the idea that that's a person there who's trying to make decisions, who was raised with a set of values and raised with a set of expectations, and they're trying to navigate the world and do the best they can. We got to say to those folks, not the idea of blaming them, but just saying to them like, yeah, look, we want you on board because we want a new direction too, and we're happy to have you here.
Here’s part of our exchange about how things feel now that the primary is over and he’s got a great group of candidates now running with him:
Simon Rosenberg: You’ve got Josh Turek now running with you for the Senate. We've got three very competitive House races with terrific candidates. You've been overperforming in special elections like crazy this cycle. You've got a great party chair there, Rita Hart, who we've been working closely with. How does it feel now that you've got everybody with you? You've been out there running. Now you've got this whole team with you. How does it feel on the ground?
Rob Sand: Ripe. Ready. I think people here, like I said, are just absolutely fed up. I've been saying for a lot of this campaign, I've never worked harder and I've never had more energy. I had switched for a little while into shortening that to just I've never worked harder. But actually, I woke up this morning and I think I've never had more energy… I feel great about the shape of our race. I'm very optimistic. It's a strong ticket.
On Tuesday Iowa Republicans unexpectedly turned down Trump’s chosen gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Randy Feenstra, and choose political operative Zach Lahn, widely seen as a weaker candidate. In addition to being a long time employee of the Koch Brothers, he and his family currently live in Kansas, not Iowa. As you will hear in our interview Rob is more than ready to take on Zach Lahn….
To donate to Rob we’ve set up a new "Winning Iowa” campaign modeled on what we’ve built in Ohio. A single donation to Winning Iowa will be split three ways - to Rob Sand, to Senate candidate Josh Turek, and to the Iowa Democratic Party. and it’s great Chair, Rita Hart (who we’ve aggressively supported through our Audacious Expansion Fund). We’ve already endorsed two of our three House pick up opportunities in Iowa - Christina Bohannan (IA-01) and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) - and will be endorsing our new nominee in IA-02, State Rep. Lindsay James, next week. And yesterday we endorsed Josh Turek for the US Senate, and hope to have him here with us soon.
It is remarkable that right now, in a state Trump won by 13 points in 2024, and where we’ve been struggling for years, both our candidates for Governor and US Senate lead in current polling. As we heard from Rob, and Rita Hart, and Christina Bohannan and Sarah Trone Garriott, we have this opportunity because the Republicans in Iowa, and in Washington, have left this remarkable state in terrible shape, and the good people of Iowa deserve, and are fighting for, something far, far better. Iowa Democrats have put together a remarkable slate of candidates this year and we just have to go all in here……
Enjoy meeting one of our very best candidates of the cycle, and keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and an elections like this one to win, together! - Simon
Biography - Rob Sand, Iowa State Auditor and Our Democratic Nominee for Governor
Unlike the powerful insiders and special interests that have run Iowa's government for the last decade, Rob is focused on all Iowans. Rob stands up for what's right, even when it's hard or goes against his political party, and defends his opponents from unfair attacks. No one in Iowa does this more than Rob, and it's exactly how he'll lead as governor.
Rob Sand was born and raised in Decorah – home to the Vikings and some of the best pizza in the state. Rob’s roots in Iowa span generations – his dad’s family has been in Winneshiek County since getting off the boat from Norway. Rob grew up fishing and hunting in the area with his dad, and found his passion for public service during high school working to get a skatepark built in his community. Growing up in small-town Iowa will always be an important part of who Rob is.
Rob started his career in public service as an Assistant Iowa Attorney General and Iowa’s chief public corruption prosecutor, locking up scammers, taxpayer abusers, and thieves, as well as violent criminals and well over a dozen sexually violent predators – putting away some of the worst of Iowa’s sexual offenders. He prosecuted all criminal cases related to the Iowa Film Office tax credit scandal and numerous crooked politicians – from both parties. He also uncovered and prosecuted the largest lottery rigging scheme in American history, which he wrote about in his true crime book, The Winning Ticket.
The people of Iowa have elected Rob twice as State Auditor, first in 2018, defeating an incumbent Republican and becoming the first Democrat to hold the office since the 1960s, and again in 2022 where he was the only Democrat reelected statewide. Since taking office, Rob has served as a trusted leader and government watchdog with a record of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, holding members of both parties accountable, and doing what’s right for Iowans. In his first term as Auditor, Rob uncovered more waste, fraud, and abuse in a single term than any other State Auditor in Iowa history, and has uncovered more than $29 million in misspent money since taking office.
Additionally, in his first term Rob coined PIE – the Public Innovations and Efficiencies program, which awards cities, counties, and school districts across the state for their efficiency efforts. Rob’s program is so effective that all Iowa counties are participants, and it has been copied in two other states – including by the Republican State Auditor of Mississippi.
Rob works with both parties to get things done for Iowans. In the State Auditor’s Office, Rob had both an Independent and a Republican in senior leadership positions, and promoted – not fired – employees who made campaign contributions to his political opponents. For Rob, it’s not about right versus left, but right versus wrong, and he always stands up for what’s right, even when he stands alone. Rob has brought Iowans together from across the state – and across party lines – who believe in his vision for a better Iowa, and are standing with him as he takes his fight to the governor’s office.
As governor, Rob will lower costs and protect taxpayer dollars, restore the public’s trust in our government, continue rooting out corruption, and fight to improve the lives of Iowa families and solve some of our toughest challenges. He’ll work to create more opportunities for Iowans across the state and help Iowa families not just get by, but thrive and live healthy lives.
Learn more about Rob here.
