Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand is seeking to provide an example in Iowa to other Democrats of how to win voters in Republican strongholds.
Iowa has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006, but Sand, the 44 year-old Iowa state auditor, is running to end what he calls “one-party rule” of Republican control in the governorship and state legislature.
Sand, who was a prosecutor for seven years before running for the auditor post in 2018, is the only Democrat elected to statewide office in Iowa, and he has put himself in a position to compete for the governorship by being critical of his party’s more controversial positions, such as allowing biological men in women’s sports and eliminating private health insurance in favor of “Medicare for all.”
While Republicans and Democrats are in a dead heat in the Senate and House races in Iowa, Sand has a comfortable 8.4-percentage-point margin in polling, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted a month before the Nov. 3 election.
Because Sand has not served in a legislative capacity, he isn’t burdened by a controversial voting record on leftist policies, as is Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who is also trying to flip a red state seat.
Sand stands as a stark contrast to other Democrats running in solidly blue states, such as Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el Sayed, who have embraced talking points from the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Iowa GOP is trying to make the case that Sand is radical and out of touch with average Iowans, but it is running out of time.
Sherill Whisenand, a retired executive aide to former Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, told the Washington Examiner at a Republican rally in Des Moines that the national Democratic Party is investing heavily in Sand and his Senate candidate counterpart, Josh Turek, because they hope to turn the Midwest blue.
“The reason the Democrats are putting so much money into these two races is that, if you get Iowa — obviously with the height of the Iowa caucuses and all that — but if you get Iowa, you can test your theory on can the Midwest go as radical or as liberal,” Whisenand said.
The “Iowa Nice” Democrat
Rob Sand, Democrat Governor candidate in Iowa, in Davenport on October 7, 2026 (Gabrielle Etzel, Washington Examiner)" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...26/10/PXL_20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?w=696" height="1024" width="771" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...26/10/PXL_20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?w=696" alt="Rob Sand." class="wp-image-4763597" style="width:548px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg 3072w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/..._20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=226,300 226w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=768,1020 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=771,1024 771w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=1157,1536 1157w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=1542,2048 1542w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/..._20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=150,199 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/..._20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=300,398 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/..._20261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=696,924 696w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=1068,1418 1068w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0261007_134241079.TS-000.jpg?resize=1920,2550 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px">
Rob Sand, Democratic governor candidate in Iowa, in Davenport on Oct. 7, 2026. (Gabrielle Etzel/Washington Examiner)
Sand’s green and orange campaign signs and his slogan, “not redder or bluer, better and truer,” signal that he is trying not to be a standard Democratic candidate.
Sand says he only registered as a Democrat because Iowa has a closed primary system in which only registered partisans can participate. He told Fox News on Sunday he chose the Democratic Party because of former President Bill Clinton’s success in “balancing the budget and using the surplus to pay down the debt,” and because Democrats “tend to be supportive of the little guy.”
The Democratic hopeful also touts that divided government, with him as the governor and the GOP-led legislature, will provide the checks and balances that protect the general welfare instead of special interests.
“I think the bottom line is both parties tend to see too much concentration of power in those safe states, and that ends up being bad for the people that they’re supposed to be serving,” Sand said on Fox News.
Ron Stuart, an 80-year-old retired public servant and Davenport native, told the Washington Examiner Sand fits the definition of “Iowa Nice,” which he defines as caring for one’s neighbor.
“He’s just so personable,” Stuart said. “He has a way of relating to it on a personal level and talking it out, of trying to get politics out of it and making the issues, what’s good for all of us. I really like that approach rather than the oppositional kind of thing.”
Stuart spoke with the Washington Examiner following a meet-and-greet event with Sand at a local used book store and coffee shop in Davenport, located in the hotly contested eastern region of the state.
Maggie Kelly, 41, from Eldridge, Iowa, told the Washington Examiner at the meet-and-greet that she has supported Sand since his 2018 campaign for state auditor, calling his brand of politics “refreshing.”
“I love his no-nonsense approach, having the conversation, working things out, and not hiding behind the rhetoric of hate and manipulation we see so often at the national level,” Kelly said.
With a cup of black coffee in his hands, Sand took questions from the crowd of roughly 50 attendees in a conversational tone for more than an hour. Sand was able to land his usual talking points, including his love of hunting and his small-town roots, but he also spoke at length about policy issues. He was able to make the audience laugh and cheer about the minutia of the state’s school voucher program and income tax law.
Kelly said she was impressed by Sand’s ability to not only answer complex policy questions off the cuff but also to explain the context of the issue for others in the audience who might not have been as familiar.
“He is so knowledgeable that it almost makes you speechless, like, ‘Oh, you actually know about this,’” Kelly said.
Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, left, greets Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear during a campaign rally, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?w=696" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?w=696" alt="Rob Sand and Andy Beshear." class="wp-image-4763607" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26159051761502.jpg?resize=696,464 696w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, left, greets Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear during a campaign rally, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Better odds than Beshear had in Kentucky
Sand has a comparable political profile to Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who won in the GOP-dominated state during the 2018 midterm elections and quickly rose to national prominence as a Democrat able to win a traditionally red state.
Both Sand and Beshear have attempted to steer away from cultural issues that plague the national Democratic Party and frequently appeal to Christian values that they share with well over 60% of their respective constituencies.
Beshear, who is now the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, campaigned with Sand in June to kick off the sprint to the general election. At a Des Moines event in June, Beshear called Sand “a great man who is going to do a good job in this governor’s seat.”
“I’m not here because I’m a Democrat, I’m here because Rob Sand is going to do a great job,” Beshear said. Sand likewise praised Beshear, telling supporters, “You might think we got a big hill to climb — I’ve seen bigger. He’s seen bigger, and he did it.”
But Sand has a better set of circumstances to set up his campaign than Beshear did the first time he won in Kentucky.
As in 2018 for Beshear, Sand has the window of opportunity to capture voters souring on the incumbent party in power. But the degree of dissatisfaction with the Trump administration is greater now than during the president’s first midterm struggle. In 2018, President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating was 53%, compared to the nearly 60% it is today, according to RealClearPolitics’s average.
Beshear won in Kentucky after voters supported Trump by a margin of 30 percentage points in 2016. By comparison, Iowa favored Trump by a margin of 13 percentage points in 2024.
In terms of voter registration, Sand has a better chance than Beshear did, with only 37% of Iowans being registered Republicans compared to Kentucky’s 48% of GOP voters. Independents in Iowa also make up 35% of the electorate, compared to only 5% in Kentucky.
If Iowa does select Sand, it will be a bigger upset historically than it was for Beshear to flip Kentucky. Since 1950, Kentucky has had 12 Democratic governors, compared to only five in Iowa.
Still too liberal for Iowa?
Rob Sand, Democrat Governor candidate in Iowa, at the Coralville Community Food Bank on October 7, 2026 (Gabrielle Etzel, Washington Examiner)" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?w=696" height="1024" width="771" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?w=696" alt="Rob Sand." class="wp-image-4763600" style="aspect-ratio:0.7532610325353591;width:396px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg 3072w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/.../10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=226,300 226w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=768,1020 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=771,1024 771w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=1157,1536 1157w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=1542,2048 1542w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/.../10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=150,199 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/.../10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=300,398 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/.../10/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=696,924 696w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=1068,1418 1068w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...0/PXL_20261007_170957398.jpg?resize=1920,2550 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px">
Rob Sand, Democratic governor candidate in Iowa, at the Coralville Community Food Bank on Oct. 7, 2026. (Gabrielle Etzel/Washington Examiner)
Despite a promise to veto all culture war legislation while in office, Sand still maintains stances on social issues that align with mainstream Democratic politics, even though they are not the centerpiece of his campaign.
Sand opposes Iowa’s six-week gestational age limit on abortion and has expressed support for the codification of Roe v. Wade protections for abortion later in pregnancy. At various town hall events, Sand has cited biblical passages that can be interpreted as saying that life begins at breath instead of conception.
Sand also has a history of attending the [URL='https://www.foxnews.com/politics/drag-queens-trans-pastor-abortion-rallies-inside-dem-governor-hopefuls-progressive-church']Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ[/URL], a pro-LGBT church in Des Moines that has hosted drag queen events and rallies supporting abortion rights. Emma O’Brien, deputy campaign manager for Sand, told the Washington Examiner that Sand “has never found a church where he agrees with everything.”
Other so-called culture war issues Sand supports include implementing stricter gun regulations, banning social media for children under 16, and legalizing recreational cannabis.
Whisenand, who is still deeply embedded in Iowa GOP politics after her retirement, said that Sand and Turek for Senate “aren’t who they say they are” when they present themselves as centrists.
“They will never be the el Sayeds,” Whisenand said. “They will never be those, of course, but they’re going to be way too liberal for Iowa.”
GOP WORKS TO CONVINCE RURAL VOTERS TO STICK WITH THEM AMID HIGH COST OF LIVING
Whisenand said, if they win, Sand and Turek will head to their respective offices with the best of intentions but will be pressured to veer left by the national party, ultimately betraying their constituents.
“I do believe with my whole heart that they are nice people and that they mean well,” Whisenand said. “But I do believe with my whole heart the radical liberals will get to them.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
