Democrat Rob Sand flips control of the Iowa governorship

State Auditor Rob Sand will be the next governor of Iowa, NBC News projects, making him the first Democrat to be elected to the office in 20 years. Sand, who ran as a moderate, defeated Republican businessman Zach Lahn to succeed retiring Republican Kim Reynolds in a state Donald Trump carried by 13 points in 2024. As the only Democratic statewide elected official in Iowa, Sand, 44, has long been seen as a rising star in a party that has sought to regain ground it lost in rural states in the Trump era. Sand cruised to the Democratic nomination this year, while Lahn, 40, pulled off an upset against Rep. Randy Feenstra in the Republican gubernatorial primary. In an expensive general election, Sand and his allies repeatedly cast Lahn as a carpetbagger and a “part-time Iowan” because he lived and voted in Kansas until recently and frequently traveled there during his campaign. Lahn explained in a debate why he was frequently in Kansas: “I have a blended family, and my kids split time,” he said.Republican gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn.Scott Olson / Getty Lahn said Sand was “just like all the other Democrats” in TV ads and labeled him a “liberal billionaire” in a debate, pointing to Sand’s wife’s post as CEO of her family’s company.Lahn tried to tie Sand to the policy positions of out-of-state Democrats on immigration, energy and taxes and claimed that Sand’s wife’s company polluted Iowa’s waterways, which he rebutted.Pollution from agribusiness and Iowa’s rising cancer rates were central themes in Sand’s and Lahn’s campaigns. “I think there’s a lot of places of bipartisan agreement on this issue. It’s a really important one for a lot of people in Iowa,” Sand told NBC News in October.At a debate, Lahn told viewers, “For a very long time, we have seen the nitrate load in our water increase year after year,” adding that he would work toward “real solutions” if he were elected.Lahn won his GOP primary this year with support from members of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement that’s associated with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While Trump backed Feenstra in the primary, he endorsed Lahn afterward and appeared at rallies in the state in the lead-up to Election Day. As in other governor’s races across the country, Sand and Lahn sparred often about the economy and making life more affordable.Sand pledged to raise the minimum wage and impose policies to make healthcare and prescription drugs more affordable, while Lahn pledged to boost Iowa’s small businesses and cut taxes.