“People are excited, and I think so far what we’re seeing is hunger for something different,” State Auditor Rob Sand told me on the day he announced he’s running for governor in 2026.

“The real theme across my work is I’m a problem solver,” Julie Stauch told me shortly before her campaign launch.

I interviewed both candidates about their top priorities and the case they will make to Iowa voters over the coming year. Toward the end, I discuss the biggest challenge facing each contender at this early stage.

“I THINK THAT PEOPLE ARE SICK OF DIVISION”

Here’s the full video of my interview with Sand on May 12.

I don’t normally ask about campaign logos, but when I saw the unusual backdrop, I wanted to learn more. Sand explained, “I think that people are sick of division. I think people are sick of both parties endlessly throwing barbs at each other. So we’ve got a handshake. And we’ve got the idea of governor for all,” to represent all Iowans and bring people together.

It may be hard to make out the handshake on my video. You can see it better in this version of the logo. Note the orange and green color scheme (a nod to Sand’s well-known love of bow hunting), rather than the red and blue typically used for political signs.

In the announcement video posted on every major social media platform on May 12, Sand said the race is not about making Iowa “bluer or redder,” but about making the state “truer and better.”

What did he mean by “truer and better”? Sand told me he thinks “too much of politics is reflexive opposition to the other party and reflexive support of one’s own party. It is one of the dumbest parts of American politics today, and it’s happening in Iowa. They gutted the auditor’s office! They gutted the auditor’s office. I mean, how much more crazy can you get?”

While Iowans are struggling with higher costs, the state’s economy is 49th in the country, and “our state revenue has collapsed,” Republicans passed a law (Senate File 478) to allow state agencies to withhold materials from his staff. “That’s where their priorities are,” he said. “It makes no sense, and I think it’s the kind of stuff that people are sick of.”

Sand confirmed that if elected governor, he would ask the legislature to repeal that 2023 law, which he has repeatedly characterized as “the most pro-corruption bill in Iowa history.” He predicted the Republican-controlled legislature would become “very interested in accountability” if the governor were a member of the other party.

“WE HAVE TO BE FOCUSED ON REBUILDING TRUST”

Here’s my full interview with Stauch, who met me at the West Des Moines Public Library on June 2. Disclosure: we’ve known each other since 1994 and are on friendly terms, which is why you’ll hear her calling me Laurie.

Stauch is well-known in Iowa political circles and has more campaign experience than any other first-time candidate I’ve encountered. Since being an Iowa field staffer for presidential nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988, she has worked on or advised many other campaigns, helping candidates for president, Congress, state legislature, and local offices.

Most recently, Stauch was political director for Pete Buttigieg before the 2020 Iowa caucuses, managed Mike Franken’s 2022 U.S. Senate bid, was senior adviser to Kimberly Sheets during Warren County’s special auditor election in 2023, managed Mike Simonson’s race for Des Moines City Council in early 2024, and ran the Democratic coordinated campaign in Nebraska’s second Congressional district last fall. While all seven other swing states voted for Donald Trump, Nebraska’s “blue dot” delivered an electoral vote to Kamala Harris.

Stauch worked in state government for much of the 1990s and spent more than four years as a senior staffer at Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, beginning in 2006. She has helped plan numerous events, from inaugural festivities to former book tours to international summits and even a Super Bowl. Since 2011, she has run a small business providing a range of services to nonprofit organizations, candidates, and elected officials.

Stauch started thinking seriously about running for governor in January of this year. She told me she had never intended to be a candidate but decided to run because “We have a lot of problems, and they need to be solved” in a “whole different way.”

Asked about the most pressing issues facing the state, she said candidates have to focus on “building trust with Iowans,” who currently distrust all institutions and political parties. “We have to be focused on rebuilding trust” before any candidate can solve other problems.

SEEKING OUT “PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO DO GOOD”

In numerous interviews coinciding with his campaign launch, Sand promised to take Iowa in a new and less partisan direction, saying he is “not a party line guy” and wants to “bring people together.” His first campaign news release quoted the candidate as saying, “In Iowa, we know it’s not about right versus left, but right versus wrong, and as governor, I will always do what’s right for Iowans.”

Some of those phrases echo messages about Sand that a poll was testing in April.

But this is not a new talking point for the candidate. Since his first days as state auditor in January 2019, he has touted the office’s “tri-partisan” leadership team (a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent). He regularly mentions in speeches that he retained and promoted some staff in the State Auditor’s office who had contributed to his opponent’s campaign.

I asked Sand if he plans to appoint Republicans in his administration, possibly to run some state agencies. “Absolutely,” he said. He didn’t want to name them so as not to damage their careers. He wants to work with people “who are trying to do good” and solve problems.

Sand hasn’t shied away from environments where many will disagree with him. He’s done lots of interviews with Simon Conway, the conservative host of WHO Radio’s drive-time program.

In early April, Sand accepted an invitation from a conservative group in deep-red O’Brien County. His opening remarks to that audience were similar to what I’ve heard from him at other town halls, and he answered unscripted questions afterwards. The Sanborn Pioneer posted the full video from that event, for those who want to watch:

Sand also attends the Iowa Prayer Breakfast every year. That event in Des Moines is dominated by Republican politicians and social conservatives who promote a specific form of Christianity, so I wondered how a Democrat is received there.

He was diplomatic. Some people “are very welcoming,” while others “are very disappointed to see me, because they aren’t really focused on the right things.”

On a related note, Sand frequently references his faith and the Bible. Last summer, Bleeding Heartland explored how he wove religious language into one political speech. Iowans are likely to see that side of the candidate more often as the gubernatorial campaign unfolds.

“NOT THE THINGS POLITICIANS TELL YOU ARE THE PROBLEMS”

On her website, Julie Stauch for All Iowans, the candidate promises, “We’re going to do things a little differently in this campaign. And it starts today.” She wants voters to tell her about the challenges facing their families and communities. “Not the things politicians tell you are problems, the ones that actually keep you up at night. From there, we’ll figure out the solutions together.”

Stauch told me and other reporters she will approach this campaign like a job interview. She has posted her resume and a cover letter on her website, and notes there, “I am a careful listener. I look forward to spending the next year exchanging ideas and concerns with all Iowans.”

When I asked about her priorities, she emphasized that if voters hire her, she’ll be working on the problems Iowans have identified as their top concerns. But she did mention four issues that are particularly important to her.

One is clean water. Iowans approved a state constitutional amendment in 2010 to create a Natural Resources Trust Fund (Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy), but it has never been funded. Under the constitutional amendment, 3/8 of a cent of revenue from Iowa’s next sales tax increase would go to the trust fund. Stauch supports that, since it’s the only funding option for now, but also favors exploring other funding sources, and revisiting how Iowans pay for our schools and local governments.

As for other ways to reduce water pollution, Stauch said it doesn’t need to be a “fight between ag and the rest of the state.” She would be open to ideas suggested by experts in the field; she typically looks for expert advice when she’s trying to solve a problem.

A second major concern is public schools. Stauch characterized the Republican private school voucher program as a “disaster freight train loaded with nuclear weapons.”

Health care issues are another focus, especially in three areas: the high and rising cancer rate; the state’s reproductive health care deserts; and what Stauch called an “egregious” situation with nursing homes. In the context of reproductive care, she emphasized that pushing OB/GYNs out of Iowa (by enacting a near-total abortion ban) doesn’t just affect women of childbearing age. OB/GYNs provide whole-life care for women, including procedures many need after menopause.

Finally, Stauch cited what she considers an abuse of eminent domain to allow Summit Carbon Solutions to seize land for a CO2 pipeline. “Eminent domain is meant for public spaces that we share, and a private company should not be able to use that law to come in and claim space.”

I asked both candidates about House File 639, a wide-ranging bill related to eminent domain and pipelines, which was written to block the Summit Carbon project. It’s now awaiting Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature or veto. Stauch said she hadn’t read the bill.

When I interviewed Sand, it was still unclear whether Iowa Senate leaders would allow a floor debate on that bill. He said the Senate “absolutely” should vote on it, adding that it’s wrong for a small number of people to block a vote on something most legislators support. Without reading all of the provisions, he didn’t want to take a position on House File 639, but he believes people are “pretty fair in their concerns” about companies being able to use eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.

GOING BEYOND URBAN IOWA

As state auditor, Sand has allowed office employees to work from anywhere in Iowa. He routinely mentions that policy during the town hall meetings he holds each year in all 99 counties.

Sand told me he would want to expand that approach across state government. He believes state employees working in rural areas would be more connected to the people.

The big question for him is, “Who are we serving? And the answer to that should be, again, all Iowans.” If you want to serve all Iowans, why would you concentrate the jobs in a few areas that are already prosperous, like the Des Moines metro? He recalled what it was like growing up in a small town (Decorah) when a family left or a local business closed. “It means more for those smaller communities to have them growing.”

Asked whether the policy has improved employee retention in the State Auditor’s office, Sand gave several examples of employees working in other parts of Iowa. But he said it’s not just about keeping people in government. He recalled a former employee who moved to Mount Pleasant and then left for the private sector. She took over a local auditing firm that might otherwise have closed. “And that’s good for Mount Pleasant,” Sand said. “It’s the whole state of Iowa benefiting.”

Stauch lived in Mason City after graduating from Iowa State University and got her start in politics there. So I wanted to hear her take on why voters in Iowa’s mid-sized cities, which were once Democratic strongholds, have drifted away from the party. (I believe that’s one of the most important Iowa political developments of the past fifteen years.)

“We haven’t been showing up there,” she said. She also thinks Democrats “went way too heavily into targeting,” which can narrow your path to victory. Candidates have to be available to Iowans in those communities to build trust. She’s not just talking about statewide campaigns, but also recruiting Democratic candidates everywhere for the state legislature and other down-ballot offices.

I wondered about the lessons Stauch learned from working on the Buttigieg and Franken campaigns. “Mayor Pete” surprised many observers by breaking out of the pack in a crowded field. He finished a close second to Bernie Sanders in raw votes on caucus night and edged out Sanders in delegates. He was the top Democratic finisher in dozens of counties, mostly outside urban areas.

Stauch said that in 2019, most of the Democratic presidential campaigns were focusing on Iowa’s eight largest counties, where about half of the delegates were. But with 20-some candidates in the race, they decided to get Buttigieg in front of audiences in many other parts of Iowa.

When Stauch joined Franken’s U.S. Senate campaign in March 2022, he was considered the underdog and former U.S. Representative Abby Finkenauer the front-runner in the Democratic primary. They tried to send the candidate “everywhere.” Franken went to meetings the campaign organized, as well as to events hosted by county parties or other groups. She noted that these weren’t all the same counties the Buttigieg campaign had targeted for the caucuses. The goal was the same, though: to be available to voters. Stauch believes that helped Franken win the Senate primary.

For the general election, a Democratic nominee needs to focus on a different set of counties. “The good thing about going out in a primary and going everywhere is you build a base of support everywhere,” Stauch said.

To that end, she plans to hold “interview sessions” around the state, organized by community college districts. She’ll hold these public meetings quarterly in each community college area, and the events will be structured to get feedback from the audience before Stauch talks about her priorities and takes questions. In addition to organizing her own events, she’s happy to come speak to local service clubs, classes, or book groups.

ON SOLVING IOWA’S IMPENDING BUDGET CRISIS

In his official capacity, Sand warned on May 7 that Iowa faces a “fiscal time bomb”: “Declining revenue, increased spending, and an over-reliance on one-time federal funds are setting the stage for a fiscal crisis in our state.” Republican lawmakers subsequently approved a budget that will spend $917 million more than projected revenues during fiscal year 2026, tapping the state’s ending balance and Taxpayer Relief Fund to cover the shortfall.

I wanted to know how Sand would defuse the time bomb, given that the biggest factors are locked in: steep income and corporate tax cuts, plus escalating spending on private school tuition through “Education Savings Accounts” (school vouchers). Meanwhile, the massive infusion of federal pandemic relief funds, which helped build the state’s large surplus, is going away.

His first answer: “Treat marijuana the same way that we treat alcohol.” Iowans now spend money in neighboring states “to get what they want.” We could be taxing cannabis and keeping their money in state.

Second, he said Iowa could be using surplus funds to implement more government efficiency measures. He said those two examples would “get us a long way” toward solving the problem.

Asked how she would deal with the budget crisis heading our way, Stauch acknowledged she didn’t have “a ready answer right now.” She said she wouldn’t stall on passing a budget for months, the way Republican lawmakers did this year when they failed to agree on a K-12 school funding package until school districts had already finalized their budgets.

Since Stauch flagged school vouchers as a threat, I asked how she would deal with that issue. After all, the Republican-controlled legislature probably wouldn’t be willing to repeal the program. She would support setting income limits for those receiving assistance, to lower the cost to the state.

Now let’s set policy aside to talk about the main potential pitfall for each candidate.

SAND CAN’T AFFORD TO ALIENATE DEMOCRATS

It would be hard to overstate how heavily Sand is favored to win the 2026 primary. As an elected official who travels widely and receives a lot of media coverage, he goes into the campaign with high name recognition. His job approval rating is solid, according to three Iowa Polls that Selzer & Co conducted last year for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom. He’s raised more than $10 million already, demonstrating he has the capacity to run an effective statewide campaign.

Sand has long maintained an active social media presence and has a large following on many platforms: 73,000 followers on Facebook, more than 44,000 on X/Twitter, nearly 28,000 on Instagram, more than 25,000 on TikTok, and nearly 6,000 on Bluesky. An unknown number of Iowans (certainly in the thousands) regularly receive text messages from the campaign. In addition to those who have opted into receiving Sand’s updates, many politically engaged Iowans are exposed to the heavy advertising he’s been doing on social media.

That said, Sand has detractors in Democratic circles—because of how he talks about politics, because he rarely talks about certain issues, and because most of the funds his campaign has raised came from “his wife and her agribusiness giant family.” Of the $8.4 million Sand’s campaign received in contributions during 2024, $7 million came from the candidate’s wife and in-laws.

Since Iowa hasn’t had many self-funding candidates for high offices, I wanted to know what Sand would say to voters who are concerned about a candidate getting so much money from one family.

He emphasized that he’s proud to have received 28,000 grassroots contributions last year—”so many of them that it broke the state’s machine for filing the reports.” (That’s accurate; the campaign had to break up the report into pieces when submitting to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board in January.) He said the governor’s race will come down to two choices: one whose biggest donor is “their family, who knows them really well” and trusts them, and the other whose biggest donor is “special interest groups that want a chunk of tax dollars.”

Fair enough. But Democrats who are rightly worried about water pollution need to know Sand is committed to doing something concrete on that front. Last week he dodged questions from Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Todd Dorman on whether Iowa needs more regulations to keep agricultural runoff from fouling our waterways and eroding our topsoil.

Sand’s recent appearance on Conway’s WHO Radio show alarmed many LGBTQ Iowans and their allies. When Conway asked, “Do you think biological boys or men should be able to play women’s sports,” Sand answered simply: “No.” He added a minute later that the transgender sports issue was “settled law in the state of Iowa,” and that this kind of conversation “distracts from” other issues like the state’s poor economic performance.

While trying to neuter a right-wing talking point, Sand gave progressives a reason to wonder whether he would sign anti-trans bills Republicans may send to his desk, and which other constituencies he would throw under the bus to appeal to swing voters. Sooner or later he will need to address those concerns.

Sand doesn’t sound worried about the haters. After I published a guest author’s post that was critical of him, he responded on social media, “Someone on the left says I’m a fence-sitter, and that’s a bad thing. I’d say I’m more of a fence-remover. I’ve had it with those in both parties who want us to hate the ‘other side’ and shame anyone who reaches out.”

You may say, who cares if some Democrats dislike Sand? He doesn’t need them to win the primary, whereas he will need a significant crossover vote to win the general election. Iowa Republicans go into this cycle with a huge voter registration advantage, and the GOP has long turned out its voters at a higher rate for Iowa midterm elections.

A future Bleeding Heartland post will dig into the difficult math for Iowa Democrats in all of the 2026 statewide elections. It’s clear Sand can’t win with strong Democratic turnout alone. But he also can’t win if a large number of Democrats stay home or leave that ballot line blank, feeling they have no stake in his campaign.

Incidentally, the Cook Political Report moved the Iowa governor’s race from “solid Republican” to “lean Republican” soon after Sand made his campaign official. Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales puts the race in the “battleground Republican” category, while Sabato’s Crystal Ball views it as a “likely Republican” hold.

STAUCH NEEDS A BETTER CASE FOR HER CANDIDACY

Whenever I interview a Democrat in a competitive primary, I want to hear their pitch to voters who like all of the contenders. What does Stauch see as the main differences between herself and Sand?

“It doesn’t even have to be about Rob,” she said. “We should have primaries at every level.” She argued that Iowa Democrats have had low turnout because the party hasn’t had enough competitive primaries that “bring people into the process and get them engaged.” In her view, “The concept of primaries being bad came out of consultants wanting more money to spend for later in the campaign.”

I agree that a primary can be healthy. It helps candidates hone their message and may boost turnout for the general election as each campaign works to identify and mobilize supporters. Deidre DeJear was nearly invisible for months as the only Democrat running for governor in 2022. A series of public forums or debates featuring Sand and Stauch wouldn’t be a bad thing.

At the same time, this isn’t a wide-open race where all candidates start out on roughly the same footing, like the Democratic primary shaping up in Iowa’s third Congressional district.

When one person has won two statewide elections and raised millions of dollars for the upcoming campaign, and the other person has never run for office before, the dynamic of the Democratic race for governor is more like an incumbent facing a primary challenger. Many successful candidates for governor around the country, in both parties, previously held other statewide offices. The burden is on Stauch to explain why voters should pick her over the obvious choice.

Asked again how she differs from Sand, Stauch highlighted how her campaign will function. She will try to build trust with voters by holding listening sessions and treating those events like a job interview.

Speaking to the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Erin Murphy, she drew a different kind of contrast: “I’ve watched campaigns often not use money well. So I know that having money is not an assurance of a win. It does make things easier, but it doesn’t mean you win.” She added that while she can’t compete with Sand on fundraising, “because I don’t have millionaires in my family,” her campaign would have resources. “And I am going to beat him on the messaging and on how I’m connecting with the voters.”

Stauch has forgotten more about running a statewide campaign than I will ever know. But I do know paid media costs money, and creating a audience to reach for free takes time. Stauch posted on her campaign’s X/Twitter account on June 5, “It’s not how much money you have, it’s how you spend it.” Which is accurate—but fewer than 30 people saw that post during the first four days it was up. Sand’s posts on the same platform typically receive thousands of views, because he has spent more than ten years building up a following there.

Sand hasn’t made any public statement about his primary rival, to my knowledge. In a not-very-subtle show of force, his campaign rolled out an endorsement from Buttigieg a couple of days after Sand announced he was running for governor. Buttigieg highlighted Sand’s work as an assistant attorney general and state auditor, noting in one text message that “Iowans known Rob.” The same text depicted Sand as “the exact leader we need to step up at this moment to unite us, and pave a new path forward.”

While a sizeable number of voters will be glad to have an alternative in the 2026 primary, most Democrats view Sand favorably, last year’s Iowa Polls by Selzer & Co found. Anecdotally, most Democrats I’ve talked with are excited to have a well-known and well-funded candidate running for governor.

To expand her coalition beyond Democrats who just don’t like Sand for whatever reason, Stauch needs to provide more than an impressive resume and cover letter. I’m not saying she should attack the front-runner, because an overly negative campaign would probably backfire. But whether it’s elevating a different set of issues or proposing different solutions for the state’s major problems, she needs to give voters some reason to think she would be the better nominee and the better governor.

Any comments about the next governor’s race are welcome in this thread.

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To follow Rob Sand’s campaign: website, Facebook, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat

To follow Julie Stauch’s campaign: website, Facebook, X/Twitter, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat

Final note: I don’t plan to endorse candidates in any of Iowa’s 2026 Democratic primaries. As always, Bleeding Heartland welcomes guest posts by Iowa Democratic candidates or their supporters. Please read these guidelines and reach out to me if you are interested in writing.