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‘Don't be fooled’: Top Iowa Republicans warn Rob Sand is a ‘far left’ candidate as governor's race picks up
State Auditor Sand is emphasizing to Iowa voters that he is more moderate than other members of his party, but Republicans say Sand’s bipartisanship is not to be believed
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CLEAR LAKE — During a Republican gathering in Clear Lake on Friday evening, it took less than 15 minutes for one Democrat’s name to come up: Rob Sand.
Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann kicked off the fundraiser by stressing to the crowd that Sand, the Iowa State Auditor and only statewide elected Democrat, is “running away from his left-wing views” as he runs for governor in the 2026 election, which is more than 15 months away.
“He will unravel everything, do not be drug in by his hypocritical social media crap,” Kaufmann said. “That's what I would ask of all of you. Watch him like a hawk, and he's still going to be good enough at the spin in order for him to try to carry it off.”
Sand, 42, launched his campaign in May after Gov. Kim Reynolds announced in April that she will not be running for re-election. Last month, he started making his way across the state in a 99-county tour, emphasizing to crowds that he is more moderate than other members of his party.
“Labels are just tools for deciding whether or not you’re in somebody’s tribe or not,” Sand said during his town hall kickoff in Waukee on June 25. “In the state of Iowa, if you want to vote in a primary, you have to pick your poisons. So what did I do? I picked my poison. But we should be talking about the fact that it is poison.”
Since then, Iowa Republicans have warned voters not to believe in Sand’s bipartisanship. This warning was echoed by other top Republican lawmakers — including Reynolds, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad — at Friday’s fundraiser.
“It's the same thing they do every time, they run as a Republican. We're smarter than that. Don't be fooled,” Reynolds told the audience in a Best Western hotel ballroom. “If you even for a moment think that it would be OK to have a Democrat step into the governor's office, all you have to do is look back the last four years under Biden.”
Grassley said electing a Democrat to the governor’s office would hurt the state budget, and Branstad told audience members not to take Iowa’s trifecta of Republican control for granted despite the party’s supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
“He (Sand) worked for some of the most radical liberal Democrats that ran in our state. So that'll tell you, regardless of what he's saying right now, that'll tell you where he will lead the state,” Branstad said. “This election will not be easy, and I'm concerned that if Republicans don't stick together and support the candidates that win the primary, we could not only lose the governorship. We could lose a bunch of the state offices and even control of the legislature with as big a margin as we have. Don't take it for granted.”
Sand's campaign communications director, Emma O'Brien, refuted the claims, adding that Sand's "focus on accountability and affordability is resonating across the political spectrum.”
“Iowa’s insiders are scared they're losing their grip on power, so they're lying about what Rob will do to distract from what they've done: put Iowa 49th for economic growth, 48th for personal income growth, and number 1 for cancer growth — while they were busy passing laws to stop Rob’s oversight as State Auditor," O'Brien said in a statement to the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau.
Who else is running for governor in 2026?
Reynolds' announcement created an open race for the Iowa governor, making it the first time an incumbent will not be on the ballot for Iowa governor since 2006.
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa’s 4th Congressional District is currently running an exploratory campaign that he launched in May. Since then, he’s run statewide ads and racked up endorsements from multiple Iowa Republicans.
Other candidates, including Iowa Republican state Rep. Eddie Andrews of Johnston, Republican Williamsburg pastor Brad Sherman, and Democrat Julie Stauch of West Des Moines, have thrown their hats into the ring in the gubernatorial race. Republican state Sen. Mike Bousselot is running an exploratory campaign.
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