Democrat Rob Sand Projected to Win Iowa Governor Race, Ending GOP Trifecta

Rob Sand Wins Iowa Governor’s Race With 57.7% of Vote, Breaking Republican Trifecta

Democrat Rob Sand captured 57.7% of the vote Tuesday night against Republican Zach Lahn’s 42.3%, with 76% of precincts reporting—a margin that ended more than a decade of Republican trifecta control at the Iowa Capitol, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. The Associated Press projected Sand as Iowa’s next governor, marking the first Democratic gubernatorial victory in the state since 2006 and a stunning loss for Republicans hoping to maintain control of state government after President Donald Trump won Iowa by 13 points in the 2024 presidential election.

The contest was the first open gubernatorial race in over ten years after Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she would not seek reelection, giving Democrats a rare opening to break up GOP control that had persisted for several years. Sand, 44, the Iowa state auditor who became the first Democratic auditor since the 1960s when he defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018, ran unopposed in the June Democratic primary after launching his campaign in May 2025.

Iowa governor race called for Democrat Rob Sand

A $46 Million Battle Over Health, Costs, and Residency

The two candidates combined spent more than $46 million on the race, with Sand spending $28.9 million to Lahn’s $17.5 million, campaign finance reports show. Both men campaigned on addressing Iowa’s rising living costs and cancer rates, issues that Sand said proved broadly popular with voters. Sand also promised to reverse the privatization of Medicaid and establish universal pre-K, while Lahn, 40, a first-time candidate, pitched himself as a conservative focused on lowering taxes for families and improving public education.

Lahn’s campaign saw a boost from supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement in Iowa aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but more information about his background came to light, particularly regarding his previous residency in Kansas. The Kansas Reflector reported that Lahn registered to vote in Iowa in 2024 but had previously lived in and been a registered voter in Kansas, where he launched a private pre-K through 12th-grade school named Wonder financed by the Koch family. Sand frequently referenced a Lahn campaign ad stating “Iowa jobs are for Iowans” to question whether Lahn qualified for the governor’s job, while Lahn said the attacks on his residency were really attacks on his blended family with children based in Wichita, Kansas.

Iowa election results: Democrat Rob Sand wins Iowa governor's race

Trump had endorsed U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra in the five-candidate Republican primary rather than Lahn, but the president still visited Iowa to campaign for Republicans shortly before Election Day, making Sand’s victory a major blow to the Trump-backed GOP effort in a state the president carried by double digits two years prior.

“Balanced Government Has Been Restored”

Addressing Democrats and supporters at an election night watch party at the Iowa Historical Building and Museum in Des Moines, Sand entered to the song “Enter the Sandman” and joined his family and running mate Dave Muhlbauer on stage. He thanked his bipartisan coalition of supporters, including Republicans and independents.

Democrat Rob Sand Projected to Win Iowa Governor Race, Ending GOP Trifecta — Photo: malaysia.news.yahoo.com

“Thank you to Republican, independent, public endorsers of this campaign for your courage and for your leadership, genuinely. We do live in a broken, two-choice political system where it requires real listening to learn that a candidate that is in the other party doesn’t see you as the enemy. You listened. Iowa Democrats. You’ve had a hard few years here in Iowa, but balanced government has been restored.”

Though a Democrat, Sand continually distanced himself from the Democratic Party during the campaign, stating he was a moderate independent of party control, while also arguing that Iowans needed to put a check on Republican power. He claimed that the GOP’s decade of one-party control had led to more corruption and less accountability in state government. Sand extended an olive branch to those who voted against him, saying, “You are going to see me out and about. I hope that you stop me, and I hope you introduce yourself, and I hope you kindly tell me why you didn’t vote for me.”

Just as he had done at campaign rallies throughout the state, Sand asked the crowd to sing “America the Beautiful” with him. “Tonight, Iowans sent a clear message: they want government not to work for a few insiders or special interests or for one party, but for all Iowans,” he said, adding that voters want leaders seeking “an Iowa that isn’t redder or bluer, but better and truer.”

Democrat Rob Sand will win the Iowa governor's race, ABC News projects

Facing a “Red Wall” in the Legislature

Despite winning the governor’s office, Sand will face a Republican-controlled state Legislature when he takes office in January. At a rally with Republican candidates, Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann acknowledged the “disappointing evening” for conservatives but insisted the Legislature would block liberal policies.

“There’s still a red wall out there, and the red wall is called the Iowa legislature. And if there is any kind of — call it whatever you want, blue wave, a historical trend that manifested itself — it will come crashing against the Iowa legislature. And there it will end in common sense.”

Sand told legislators he looked forward to working with them on “common sense ideas” including government transparency, support for Iowa public schools, and addressing the state’s cancer crisis—issues he said voters had clearly endorsed. Sand is scheduled to take office in January, ending the Republican trifecta but facing a divided government in Des Moines.