State Auditor Rob Sand kicked off his 100 Town Hall Tour at Waukee Theatre Arts Center Wednesday night by outlining some differences he has with his own party. The tour is part of Sand’s campaign for governor in 2026.
Sand, currently the only Democrat holding statewide office, began the meeting by asking if there were any registered Republicans or Independents in the room — a handful of people raised their hands for each. He then led the crowd in singing “America the Beautiful.”
Throughout the town hall, Sand emphasized his distaste for partisan politics. When asked by an attendee whether he identified as a strong Democrat or moderate, Sand said he doesn’t like labels.
“I don't really like political parties."Rob Sand, Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa
“I don't really like political parties,” he said. “But guess what? In the state of Iowa, if you want to vote in a primary, you have to pick your poison. So what did I do? I picked my poison. But we should still be talking about the fact that it is poison.”
Sand said as governor, he would push for Independents to be allowed to cast ballots in primaries. He called excluding Independents from primaries “the most un-American idea [he] could imagine.”
Iowa currently has “partially open” primaries, where voters are allowed to cross party lines, but their ballot may be considered registration for that party, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.
In response to one attendee’s question about how he would accomplish his goals with a Republican supermajority in both the Iowa House and Senate, Sand said “it’s time for more vetoes,” and touted he would work with anyone.
“There's some Republicans that I have an easier time working with than some people in my own party who are more there to sort of throw bombs or just say mean words,” he said.
Another attendee from Dallas County asked Sand how he would address food insecurity in wake of the governor’s decision to not participate in the federal Summer EBT program and instead replace it with the state’s Healthy Kids Iowa program.
“Yes, we would get money to feed hungry children ... ” he said. “I feel like I'm taking crazy pills — feed the hungry children with the money from California and from New York and from Texas and from Florida. And what did we do? We didn't do it.”
Sand also said he supports some restrictions on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), an issue typically backed by Republican politicians. Last month, the Trump administration approved a waiver Gov. Kim Reynolds submitted to the USDA that would ban SNAP participants from purchasing foods subject to state sales tax.
“I think that one is a good idea,” Sand said. “People have criticized it as paternalistic, saying like, ‘Oh, well, you know, you shouldn't decide what they're going to buy with SNAP.’ Well, feeding people might be paternalistic, too.’”
Sand will hold his next town hall June 30 at 12 p.m. in Forest City. His town hall tour is projected to go through the end of October, according to his campaign website.
Sand is one of two Democrats who have formally launched campaigns for the 2026 Iowa governor's race. Julie Stauch, former Democratic political strategist, announced her campaign in early June.
On the Republican side, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman have launched campaigns for governor. State Sen. Michael Bousselot and 4th District U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra have created exploratory campaigns for governor. Feenstra also launched an ad campaign last month.
