Republican Governors Association Falsely Attacks Rob Sand in Desperate Attempt to Bail Out Flailing GOP Candidates

DES MOINES, IA – In a desperate attempt to paper over the messy and chaotic Republican primary for governor in Iowa and bail out their flailing candidates, the Republican Governors Association launched a false and misleading attack ad against Rob Sand. The ad selectively edits news coverage about an error Iowa’s judiciary took full responsibility for, which the Auditor’s Office has no ability to review, and in which no money left public accounts. In fact, a judicial branch employee even wrote in an email: “the misallocation could not have been detected with an audit,” and “the court debt misallocation is not an issue of past or present auditors failing to catch it.”

Please see the following statement in response:

“This false attack has already been debunked, but D.C. insiders are clearly worried and are being forced to bail out their flailing candidates,” said Deputy Campaign Manager Emma O’Brien. “They have to lie about Rob’s record to paper over the last decade of failure and one-party control that has left Iowans worse off. Rob Sand has support from across the political spectrum, and the insiders are scared that their reign of power in Iowa is finally coming to an end in 2026”

Rob uncovered more waste, fraud, and abuse in a single term than any other State Auditor in Iowa history. As a response, government insiders passed – and Governor Reynolds signed – a bill stripping the Auditor’s Office of its powers to find misspent tax dollars. As the chief public corruption prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office prior to getting elected State Auditor, Rob uncovered the largest lottery rigging scheme in American history and handled the only American prosecution of a Papua New Guinea Ponzi scheme that snared American victims.

As Rob Sand continues building momentum and earning support from Iowans from all political stripes, the RGA has to spend money to bail out their candidates who are locked in an increasingly unsettled,” “chaotic,” and “competitive” primary, with no clear frontrunner. This is the only governor’s race in the country where the RGA is spending money during a primary. Recently, the Cook Political Report moved the race to a “Toss-Up,” specifically citing Rob’s strengths as a candidate and “strong campaign,” as well as the messy GOP primary.

Please see below for key facts on the judiciary’s misallocation of funds:

This is a case of the Judicial branch putting funds in the wrong accounts. They took full responsibility for it. In fact, a judicial branch employee wrote in an email: “the misallocation could not have been detected with an audit,” and that “the court debt misallocation is not an issue of past or present auditors failing to catch it.”
No funds ever left public accounts or became unrecoverable, no programs ever went dry, and no services were delayed as a result of the judiciary branch’s error.
Senate File 478, passed and signed by the governor in 2023, prohibits the Auditor’s Office from accessing cybersecurity issues, like this coding issue. Even if the office had the expertise to audit computer codes, the most pro-corruption bill in Iowa’s history would make it even more difficult to find issues like this.
The State Auditor’s Office did, in fact, act when it learned of the issue. Read the full audit report here. Within 5 days of being told of the issue by the Reynolds Administration on Oct. 7, 2022, six times it corresponded or met with the Reynolds Administration or the Judicial branch about the issue. The Judicial Branch informed the State Auditor’s Office and the Reynolds Administration they had already hired an outside expert, The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), because it was not an issue for auditors. At that point, “the determination was made to rely on the NCSC review to be completed since they were already engaged.”