Democrat Rob Sand wins Iowa governor’s race

Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand has won Iowa’s governor’s race, defeating Republican businessman Zach Lahn and becoming the first Democrat elected to the office since 2006. Sand will succeed Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who chose not to seek another term.

The result breaks a long Republican hold on the governor’s office in a state President Donald Trump carried by more than 13 percentage points in 2024. Sand, 44, was already Iowa’s only Democratic statewide elected official. He first won the auditor’s post in 2018 and narrowly secured reelection in 2022.

Sand ran as a moderate, emphasizing government accountability, affordability and cooperation across party lines. He also criticized the two-party system and called for nonpartisan primaries, CBS News reported. At an October rally, he argued that Iowa had benefited when Democrats and Republicans had to work together. “We have had 10 years of one-party control in the state of Iowa, and that is what led us to where we are today,” he said.

Lahn, 40, a farmer and businessman making his first run for office, won an upset Republican primary victory over Rep. Randy Feenstra, whom Trump had endorsed. CBS News reported that Lahn won the primary by 1,700 votes. He had support from groups aligned with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement associated with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump endorsed Lahn after the primary and campaigned for him.

The general election grew expensive and contentious. Campaign finance reports covering mid-July through mid-October showed the candidates spent more than $46 million, with Sand accounting for about $29 million, according to NPR. Sand and his allies called Lahn a “part-time Iowan,” pointing to his recent residence and voting history in Kansas and his travel there during the campaign. Asked about those trips at a debate, Lahn said, “I have a blended family, and my kids split time.”

Lahn sought to portray Sand as too liberal for Iowa, calling him a “liberal billionaire” in a debate and pointing to Sand’s wife’s role as chief executive of her family’s company. Lahn also accused the company of polluting Iowa waterways, a claim Sand disputed.

Water quality and cancer rates were prominent issues for both campaigns. Iowa has the nation’s second-highest rate of new cancer diagnoses, NPR reported. “I think there’s a lot of places of bipartisan agreement on this issue,” Sand told NBC News in October. Lahn said in a debate that nitrate levels in Iowa’s water had risen year after year and pledged to pursue “real solutions.”

The candidates also differed on education and the economy. Sand called for more investment in public schools and criticized Iowa’s program that uses public money to help families pay private school tuition; Lahn defended it as a way to give parents more choice, NPR reported. Sand pledged to raise the minimum wage and make health care and prescription drugs more affordable. Lahn promised tax cuts and support for small businesses.

Sand takes office in January. To advance his agenda, he will have to work with a Republican-controlled Legislature.