KCRG FACT CHECK: Zach Lahn’s Attack Ad “Lacks Details”

“When the KCRG fact check team looked into the claims, the details are lacking.”

DES MOINES, IA – Yesterday, KCRG released a “fact-check” on Republican nominee for governor Zach Lahn’s latest political ad lying about Rob Sand. Lahn’s ad falsely claims Rob is a “billionaire” and that he supports raising taxes – both false. According to KCRG, the “details are lacking” in Lahn’s ad, and the numbers “[don’t] add up.”

KCRG also noted that Lahn’s campaign may be confusing Rob Sand with Robert Sands of New York, who is, in fact, a billionaire.

“Iowans know and trust Rob Sand from his two terms as State Auditor uncovering record amounts of misspent tax money, holding corrupt officials from both parties accountable, and holding 100 public town halls every year,” said Deputy Campaign Manager Emma O’Brien. “Zach Lahn is once again lying because he has no answer for why he spends more time in Kansas than in Iowa. Lahn’s entire campaign is based on false smears because he can’t defend his own record, and this November Iowans will reject him.”

This is becoming a pattern for Lahn, whose first advertisement of the general election cycle was fact-checked by KCCI, which claimed the ad “leaves out some context included in KCCI’s original reporting,” and selectively edited broadcast footage in a misleading way. Lahn’s campaign has repeatedly resorted to dishonest attacks to distract from his inability to answer for why he spends more time in Kansas than in Iowa, and his failure to commit to being a full-time governor.

WATCH:

KCRG: FACT CHECK: Is Rob Sand a billionaire? Will he raise taxes?

In the race for Iowa Governor, a new political ad claims Rob Sand is a billionaire who loves tax increases. It comes from Sand’s opponent, Republican Zach Lahn. But when the KCRG fact check team looked into the claims, the details are lacking.
It includes this claim: “Rob Sand wants to raise your taxes by $7,500 a year. You can look it up.”
The Lahn campaign pointed to two things: A news article where Sand criticized Iowa’s 2024 income tax cut package, warning it would cost the state down the road, and a social media post Sand made criticizing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. However, that doesn’t add up. Common Sense Iowa found the state tax cuts saved at most $1,300. And the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found the average Iowan saved about $3,100 from tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That’s well less than $7,500 hundred dollars.
Opposing tax cuts is different than raising taxes. But it’s the next claim that drew fire on social media. “He is a billionaire.”
Rob Sand’s ethics disclosure lists his only income as $103,000 salary as State Auditor. That’s led several Democrats to question if the Lahn campaign confused Iowa’s Rob Sand with a Robert Sands of New York, who is a billionaire.