Rob Sand, Iowa's state auditor, is running for governor with a pragmatic message that eschews strict partisanship. The 43-year-old Democrat has positioned himself as a "governor for all" with the slogan "Not redder or bluer, but better and truer." At a recent Des Moines brewery stop, Sand criticized the state's economy, college-educated residents leaving in droves, and rising cancer rates while urging Iowans to examine their state's trajectory under Republican leadership.

$9.5 million — that's how much Sand's campaign amassed in 2025, out-raising all his Republican opponents combined. More than 1,500 registered Republicans and 4,000 independents have donated to his campaign, an unusual show of bipartisan support in a state that has been solidly red for 15 years. Republicans hold the governor's mansion, dominate both chambers of the State Legislature, and fill all six of Iowa's congressional seats. Trump won Iowa by more than 13 percentage points in 2024.

Political observers see the race as unusually competitive. Sand was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win statewide in Iowa in 2018 and won re-election by less than a percentage point in 2022. A political science professor at Cornell College noted Sand must lay out the state's problems without attacking Republican officials directly, since even mentioning specific names could alienate GOP voters. Five Republicans compete in the June 2 primary while Sand runs unopposed on the Democratic side.