Rob Sand

Rob Sand was born and raised in Decorah in northeast Iowa, where his father’s family has lived in Winneshiek County since emigrating from Norway. In high school he spent two years working to build a public skate park, and he graduated from Decorah High School in 2001.⁠[1][2]

Sand attended Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private nonprofit research university in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Chartered by Rhode Island's colonial legislature in 1764, it is known for its undergraduate Open Curriculum, which has no common required core. Christina H. Paxson, president since July 2012, announced on August 3, 2026, that the 2026–27 academic year would be her last in office. As of October 1, 2026, the search for Brown's 20th president remained underway.Open the full entry, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2005, and was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar there.⁠[1][3]

In 2006 he worked on Ed Fallon’s campaign for governor of Iowa and managed Denise O’Brien’s general election campaign for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.⁠[3]

He then returned to Iowa to attend the University of Iowa law school on a full merit scholarship, becoming the first student to serve both as president of the Iowa Student Bar Association and as editor-in-chief of a law journal. After the 2008 floods he led a student effort that contributed more than 1,000 hours of volunteer labor to cleaning and rebuilding Cedar Rapids. Before graduating he received the Hancher-Finkbine Medallion, the university’s highest award, and he earned his law degree in 2010.⁠[1][3]

Sand served seven years in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general and the state’s chief public corruption prosecutor. He led the discovery and prosecution of what is described as the largest lottery-rigging scheme in American history, and he prosecuted the Iowa Film Office tax credit scandal, the only criminal prosecution related to a global Ponzi scheme and dozens of other financial crimes, as well as violent crime and nearly two dozen sexually violent predators.⁠[1][4]

He later wrote about the lottery-rigging case in his true-crime book, The Winning Ticket.⁠[2]

On November 6, 2018, Sand defeated the Republican incumbent, Mary Mosiman, 51.0% to 46.4% to become Iowa’s 33rd State Auditor and the first Democrat to hold the office since the 1960s; he took office in 2019.⁠[3][1][2]

On taking office he formed a senior leadership team of a Democrat, an independent and a Republican, two of whom had contributed to his opponent’s campaign. During his tenure the office created the Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program, which rewards local governments and school districts for cost-saving policies, allowed employees to work from small towns and rural areas anywhere in the state, and took a state department to the Iowa Supreme Court, winning a unanimous decision, to obtain documents on the largest financial deal in state history.⁠[1]

On November 8, 2022, he was re-elected over Republican Todd Halbur, 50.1% to 49.8%, a margin of fewer than 3,000 votes; he was the only Democrat re-elected to statewide office that year.⁠[3][5][2]

On May 12, 2025, Sand announced he would run for governor of Iowa in 2026. He said: “I just think that we have gone too far in seeing the Iowa government serving insiders and special interests over Iowans.”⁠[6]

On June 2, 2026, Sand won the Democratic gubernatorial primary with 99.7% of the vote, with no other active candidate on the ballot. His running mate was Dave Muhlbauer, a fifth-generation farmer and Crawford County supervisor.⁠[3][4]

In the general election he faced the Republican nominee, Zach Lahn. During the campaign Sand criticized Republicans for ignoring a growing budget deficit tied to tax cuts and education savings accounts, and said divided government could help solve problems and that he would act as a check on Republican “culture war” bills.⁠[5]

On the night of November 3, 2026, the Associated Press called the Iowa governor’s race for Sand over Lahn; unofficial results showed Sand with more than 55% of the vote. Lahn gave a concession speech that night. Sand is set to succeed Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who did not seek another term, as the first Democrat elected governor of Iowa since Chet Culver in 2006.⁠[4][5][7]

Iowa Auditor of State: Official website: https://www.auditor.iowa.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

Rob Sand for Iowa: Official website: https://robsand.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: Public account: https://x.com/robsandia (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@robsandia (opens in a new window).⁠[2]