Rob Sand Wins Iowa Gubernatorial Election to Become State's Next Governor

Iowa will split its state government for the first time in a decade when Democrat Rob Sand is sworn in as the state’s 44th governor on January 12, capping a campaign in which he promised to be “not redder or bluer but better and truer.” Sand, a 44-year-old state auditor who spent the better part of two years campaigning on a distaste for the country’s two-party system, defeated Republican Zach Lahn Tuesday night with 56% of the vote to Lahn’s 44%, according to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State shortly after 11 p.m. with 93% of the state’s precincts reporting, thegazette.com reported. The Associated Press called the race for Sand shortly after 10 p.m.

The victory marks Iowa’s first open-seat gubernatorial election in 20 years, after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who had held the office since 2017, declined to seek re-election. Sand becomes Iowa’s first Democratic governor since Chet Culver, who served from 2007 to 2010. Prominent national elections forecasters had viewed the race as “leaning” or “tilting” Democratic, and polling consistently showed Sand with an advantage regularly outside the margin of error.

'Thank you, Iowa': Rob Sand delivers victory speech after winning race for Iowa governor

Sand Promises to Be ‘Governor for All’

Speaking late Tuesday at Iowa Democrats’ election night headquarters in Des Moines’ East Village, Sand framed his win as a rejection of partisan warfare. “We gave Iowans a place to bring their concerns, their complaints, and their ideas to improve our state,” he said. “We rejected the idea that you have to hate your neighbor just because they vote differently than you.”

“We said that we should expect more from our elected officials who are supposed to be working for us,” Sand continued. “Now it’s going to take all of us working together from all political persuasions to address the issues that our state faces. I truly believe that we can do great things for this state with all ideas, voices, and perspectives actually at the table.”

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The new governor will work with Republican majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, ending a decade of full Republican control over state lawmaking. “Politics should never, ever, ever be about two private clubs who are more interested in beating up on each other than they are in solving our problems,” Sand said. “Problem solving across the aisle is something that you can expect from me as your governor. My mission is going to be to make state government work better for all Iowans, to serve all Iowans, and to be accountable to all Iowans.”

An Unconventional Campaign

Lahn, a 40-year-old venture firm business owner from Belle Plaine, ran an atypical Iowa Republican campaign that produced a surprise victory in June’s primary, where he defeated western Iowa incumbent Congressman Randy Feenstra. In the general election, Lahn focused on Iowa’s elevated cancer rates and substandard water quality, openly exploring possible connections between them, such as those involving pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

FULL SPEECH: Rob Sand Delivers Powerful Message as Iowa Governor Race Reaches Climax | AC14

Throughout the campaign, Lahn and Iowa Republicans cast doubt on Sand’s sincerity about leading in a nonpartisan manner, noting his donations from prominent state and national Democrats and his appearances with other Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, Sand’s campaign and Iowa Democrats heavily emphasized Lahn’s back-and-forth travel between Iowa and Kansas, the latter being where his children from his former marriage remain.

In his concession remarks Tuesday night at the Republican Party of Iowa’s downtown Des Moines headquarters, Lahn struck a different tone than during the campaign, when he said he was running to preserve Iowa’s “culture.” “If we’re not here to defend the culture, especially with what we saw tonight, our kids and grandkids will not inherit the Iowa, the state, the promise that we want them to inherit,” Lahn said. He concluded with a promise to return: “To the people of Iowa, we’ll see you in four years.”

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“Rob Sand’s victory does not give him a blank check,” said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann in a statement issued after the results came in. “He spent this campaign trying to sell Iowans a different version of himself, claiming he would put Iowans ahead of his political party. Now he’ll have to prove it. If he pursues the outrageous policies Democrats have been pushing, Republicans in the Legislature must stand firm and fight back every step of the way. We will have their backs.”

Taking Office in a Divided Iowa

Sand’s running mate, Dave Muhlbauer, a 42-year-old farmer and Crawford County supervisor from Manilla, will become Iowa lieutenant governor when the ticket is sworn in on January 12. Both parties’ national governors associations invested heavily in Iowa’s election, with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, head of the Democratic Governors Association, campaigning with Sand multiple times including Monday. In a statement, Beshear said Sand is “ready to bring the change Iowans deserve,” citing his record as a prosecutor and state auditor who held 100 town halls year after year. “He is going to bring that same independent leadership and accountability back to the governor’s office, working with anyone to end corruption, lower costs, and tackle Iowa’s cancer crisis,” Beshear said.

Whether Sand can deliver on his pledge to serve all Iowans remains the open question as he prepares to take office, facing a Legislature controlled by the party he just defeated and a Republican leadership already promising to stand firm against what they call outrageous Democratic policies.