Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, fueled by an $18 million war chest, welcomes Republicans on his 100-county tour of Iowa.
See Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand speak in Sanborn
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand campaigned in northwest Iowa Tuesday, July 21. The stops were part of his second 100-stop town hall tour.
- Democratic governor candidate Rob Sand is facing Republican nominee Zach Lahn in what is anticipated to be a highly competitive race for Iowa governor.
- Some lifelong Republicans say they are considering voting for Sand.
- Republicans have criticized Sand for holding town halls during work hours and for denying entry to a Republican staffer at a town hall.
SANBORN, IA — About 40 minutes into Rob Sand’s town hall in rural northwest Iowa, resident Chuck Virgil takes the microphone.
“There’s a lot of things I’d like to talk about,” the 78-year-old lifelong Republican said, launching into a conversation about eminent domain and a proposed carbon capture pipeline slated to cut across the area.
As he reaches the end of his comments, Virgil tells the small crowd he’s “this close” to supporting Sand, a Democrat, for governor.
Virgil is just one person and one vote. But Sand is hoping it’s interactions like this one, multiplied many, many times over, that will lay the foundation for success in even the reddest parts of the state as he looks to reverse Democrats’ long losing streak in November.
Sand is set to face Republican nominee Zach Lahn in what analysts are calling one of the most competitive governor contests in the country.
Fueled by record-breaking campaign donations that have netted him an $18 million war chest, Sand is now nearly halfway through his second 100-stop statewide town hall tour of the election cycle.
His July 21 schedule took him through five counties in rural, highly conservative northwest Iowa, where he drew crowds that his campaign said were often twice as large as previous events.
Sand started his day in O’Brien County, where voters backed Republican President Donald Trump by a 61 percentage-point margin over Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. About 70 people attended.
Democrats don’t expect Sand to flip counties like this one from Republicans on Election Day. But to win a governor’s race for the first time since 2006, the party needs to prevent Republicans from running up the vote margin in these dark-red pockets.
Across Iowa, data from the Secretary of State’s Office show registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 180,000 people. In the 4th Congressional District, which is home to O’Brien County, there are about 117,000 more registered Republicans than registered Democrats.
But Sand said his approach here is no different than anywhere else in the state.
He expects “a good mix of Iowans from across the political spectrum who care who the next governor’s going to be and are willing to take the time to come out and meet someone who’s willing to meet them.”
During his previous round of town halls, Sand always asked Republicans and independent voters to raise their hands to be applauded and welcomed to the event.
This time around, he’s driving the point home even further by also handing his microphone over to one of those Republicans and asking them to share a question or comment.
‘I feel betrayed by the Republican Party’
“We can talk a lot about including each other, but a more important thing to do is to be judged by our actions, not just our words,” Sand said during the event in Sanborn before giving Virgil the microphone.
After the event, Virgil told the Des Moines Register that he’s a “very likely Sand voter” in November.
“I feel betrayed by the Republican Party,” he said. “Absolutely betrayed.”
He said Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ veto of legislation that would have blocked the use of eminent domain for the carbon capture pipeline project is a major reason. He also wishes Republicans would better regulate the aerial application of agriculture chemicals, especially as the state’s cancer rates climb.
“To me, as a lifelong Republican, really the whole crux of the matter is the Republican Party has run amok,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Democratic Party, but I do want to put some confidence in someone. And if that someone is Rob Sand, I want to give him a chance.”
In his remarks, Sand worked to smooth the transition for Republicans and independents like Virgil who might remain skeptical of the Democratic Party — even if they’re Sand-curious.
“At the end of the day, I think the Democratic Party tends to be the party that does a better job of representing the little guy,” he said in Sanborn. “Maybe that’s not true as much now as it used to be. Maybe you don’t think that’s true at all. I’m just telling you what I thought when I signed up as a Democrat. And I know my values haven’t changed, even if the parties’ may have moved.”
Republicans criticize Rob Sand’s town halls
Lahn and other Republicans have criticized Sand for what they say is a hypocritical approach to his town halls.
They’ve circulated a video showing Sand’s staff denying entry to someone who says she is a Republican. A staffer in a Sand T-shirt says the event is “private.”
“Is it because I worked for Adam Steen? That’s the policy?” the person filming the video says. Steen competed in the Republican primary for governor.
“Our policy is just, if you have worked for opposition candidates who have been running against us, then we’re just going to ask you to leave,” the Sand staffer says.
Kollin Crompton, communications director for the Republican Governors Association, posted the video to social media, criticizing Sand for holding open events “unless you are a Republican with a question.”
Asked about the incident, Sand told the Register the campaign expects to host more than 10,000 people across its 100 town halls this year.
“I think the vast majority of Iowans are reasonable people that would understand that some folks don’t behave in a way that gets them in the front door,” he said.
Lahn has also criticized Sand for conducting town halls instead of being in the auditor’s office.
“Thursday at 3:30 p.m. during a workday,” he wrote, sharing one of the Sand campaign’s recent posts about a mid-week town hall. “Out Of Office. Rob Sand Doesn’t Work.”
But Sand said he would continue to do a 100-stop public town hall tour even if he’s elected governor. Current Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds does not hold public town halls.
“Don’t these people deserve that?” he told the Register. “I mean, aren’t we supposed to have a political system where people know that no matter who they are, they might at least have a opportunity to meet and to question the people that have been elected to lead their state? I understand that that’s a big undertaking, but I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be done.”
He said his truck is equipped with satellite internet, so he can work everywhere he goes, especially if someone drives him.
“I can be on the phone, I can be reading reports, I can be emailing, I can be on Zoom,” he said.
Sand also criticized Lahn, who has held one publicly advised campaign event since winning the nomination and didn’t publicly answer questions from attendees or take questions from reporters who attended. Lahn has said he stayed after the event to talk to Iowans directly. He also has attended parades, other private events and party functions.
“That’s not leadership,” Sand told reporters at an event in Spencer. “You don’t get these questions and these issues resolved without being willing to lead.”
‘I know Rob better’
Kelly Nieuwenhuis, a 67-year-old Primghar Republican, also attended the town hall in Sanborn. He said he previously voted for Sand for state auditor “because I like checks and balances.”
“I haven’t totally decided, but I’m leaning very hard towards voting for Rob,” he said. “And it’s just mainly because I really like his campaign slogan of not redder or bluer, but better and truer.”
Nieuwenhuis said he’s served on the Iowa Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association for nine years, and he has come to appreciate that being an independent thinker open to working with all sides can help advance a cause.
He said Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra was his first choice in the Republican primary, but he’s not a Lahn fan. He said he’s skeptical of the time Lahn spent out of state before moving back to Iowa.
“I just don’t know him that well,” he said. “I know Rob better.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.