So far, the Republicans officially in the race for governor are State Representative Eddie Andrews, former State Representative Brad Sherman, and former Director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services Adam Steen. The Democrats facing State Auditor Rob Sand are Julie Stauch of West Des Moines and Paul Dahl of Webster City.
Transcript of interview:
WVIK News: Thank you for speaking with WVIK News, Auditor Rob Sand. You won reelection in 2022 with 50.9% of the total ballots, consisting of one million plus voters. Why seek the position of governor over a third term as state auditor?
State Auditor Rob Sand: Yeah, thanks for having me. I'd say it's pretty straightforward. We uncovered a record amount of misspent money in my first term as auditor. I then got reelected. And the response to that was to literally gut the Auditor's Office. So it's harder for us to find misspent tax dollars. That's what the people in Des Moines are focused on. They spent who knows how many hours over the course of an entire legislative session figuring out how to make it harder for us to hold them accountable. Meanwhile, our economy is in 49th place in the country. Personal income growth is 48th for the country. Our cancer growth rate is number one. The education system is in the middle of a pack, whereas when I was growing up in Decorah, it was number one in the country. I just think it shows the folks in Des Moines at this point are just focused on insider and special interest groups. They're not serving Iowans.
WVIK News: And what have you learned as the State Auditor of Iowa that would assist you in serving as governor if elected?
Auditor Sand: Well, a great deal of the work is working through the responsibilities, the duties of every state agency as they're supposed to be serving taxpayers. We started the most effective government efficiency program. It's been actually copied in two other states, one Democratic, one Republican. And in addition to that, as I said, we uncovered a record about a missed claim the first term. So we know where to be looking to hold people accountable and make sure the government is actually serving Iowans, not insiders or special interest groups.
WVIK News: And what have you heard from constituents so far on the campaign trail as the most significant issues facing Iowans?
Auditor Sand: People are hurting out there economically. Prices are up and as I said incomes in the state of Iowa are not increasing. There are 48th in the country for personal income growth. So people are hurting. They're very frustrated with the direction of things. And I think also people are very frustrated with the lack of accountability in the school voucher program. These private schools can take your public dollars and spend them on pretty much anything you want. And there's really no rules, and we're not allowed to audit it. So who knows where that money's going.
WVIK News: And as governor, how would you approach working with the state's farmers and ag industry to sustain Iowa's topsoil and address nitrates and pesticide use on crop health and those who live near farms?
Auditor Sand: These are incredibly important issues, and I think there's a few things here that we can be focused on. I'd say at the end of the day, we need to remember that Iowa has 25% of the world's grade A farmland. This is an agricultural state. We want to maintain that soil and protect our ability to grow for future generations. And we want our farmers and our ag economy to be prosperous and resilient because that's good for the rest of the state, too. I think that listening to farmers about this is important. But at the end of the day when I say being a governor for all that means you've got to listen to everybody. But I do believe that the vast majority of farmers want to see this done in a way that helps preserve our water quality. The problem is politicians. Farmers fill out the paperwork, they put in the work to sign up for a conservation practices for cost share, and the money runs out before all the farmers that are signed up to participate in the program actually are allowed to do it. I think that's been incredibly frustrating. Here's the other thing. I want to serve the state of Iowa, not a political party. Tariffs have been terrible for agriculture in Iowa, and we ought to have elected officials that will say so. But out of everybody out in D.C. from Iowa, Chuck Grassley is the only one willing to say it. The rest are too focused on serving their party and they're allowing these things to happen even though it's bad for their constituents. Same story with when they said when the president said he wants Coca Cola to use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, there's no real difference for health. It's bad for Iowa. And yet everybody that's supposed to be represented in Iowa, out there in D.C. just sat there and said, okay.
WVIK News: And what are your priorities if elected to boost the state's economy? And what ideas could you see garnering bipartisan support?
Auditor Sand: Number one, one way to boost the economy is by making sure that actually money is getting not wasted. If you're conducting acts of waste, fraud, and abuse in government, then that's not helping people and not helping the economy grow. So I don't want to restore the Auditor's Office, make it so that in fact we can do the jobs that we were supposed to do, that we were able to do in my first term when we uncovered that amount of misspent money. I also think it's important for us to be boosting small businesses across the state of Iowa. That's really the backbone of the state. And I think if we look, when you look around, most of the innovation, most of the stuff that's happening in Iowa that's really focused on serving Iowa is coming from Iowans who are running those businesses.
WVIK News: And you've touched on this previously in the interview, but what have you been hearing from parents, teachers , students, and school districts regarding the state of education in Iowa and what we need to do in the future?
Auditor Sand: I just think a lot of frustration with the lack of support for public schools. We put this on our quarter foundation in education. We have been so proud historically of having the best education system in the country. And this shouldn't be a partisan issue. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, he's a Republican. He just made a record investment in Nebraska public schools, and now they are ahead of us in rankings. Meanwhile, what we've been doing is funding money, funneling money into this school voucher program, where there's no rules for how the money is supposed to get spent. I just think that's irresponsible and most Iowans agree with me. Even a lot of people who like the idea of school choice still think that you ought to at least have public oversight of public money.
WVIK News: And Iowa used to be considered a swing state and was the first in the nation with caucuses. But over the last decade, the state has moved more towards ruby red, as some media outlets have been coining. What do you think Democrats need to do to win again in Iowa?
Auditor Sand: Look, I'm not really into either party. I think the Democratic and the Republican parties actually don't solve enough problems to have a monopoly on our choices. I'm very frustrated with the two-choice system. I think it enables a lot of laziness because candidates figure out solving problems is hard. It's easy to get reelected just by demonizing your opponent. And as long as we have that, we're still going to have a problem. Now I chose the Democratic Party when I registered to vote after I had been an independent for a little bit because I wanted to vote in primaries. But number one, we should make it so that independent voters actually have an equal say in our democracy. But I picked the Democratic Party because of my faith. I think Jesus is for the little guy, and the Democratic Party, at its best, is for the little guy too. And I remember at the time when I was growing up, a Democratic president who balanced the budget and used the surplus to pay down the debt. And fiscal responsibility is important to me. You can sure contrast that with what's come out of Des Moines recently where we just had a record setting state deficit, $900 million. I think that's irresponsible and I think it's time for change.
WVIK News: Thank you so much for speaking with WVIK News today, Auditor Sand.
Auditor Sand: Thank you.
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