Rob Sand Returns Home to Kick Off 100 Town Hall Tour, Continues Tour Through Northeast Iowa

DES MOINES, IA – Last week, nominee for governor Rob Sand kicked off his annual 100 Town Hall tour in his hometown of Decorah, launching another summer of honest conversations with Iowans in every corner of the state. This is Rob’s second tour as a candidate for governor, building on a nine-year-running tradition that began while he was running for State Auditor. Since then, Rob has traveled to all 99 counties every year, holding more than 800 public town halls where anyone can show up, ask a question, and get a straight answer.

Last year, more than 10,100 Iowans came out to Rob’s town halls, where he fielded over 750 honest, unscripted questions, and sat down with local members of the media at every stop. As part of this year’s tour, Rob unveiled a new policy proposal that would require elected officials to hold public town halls every year in order to qualify on the ballot. The town halls must be publicly posted at least two weeks in advance, free to attend, must be open to the press, and half the time must be dedicated to taking unscripted questions. Read more about that proposal here.

Learn more about Rob’s visit to Winneshiek, Clayton, Delaware, and Jones counties below.

KTTC: Winneshiek County native discusses bid for governor with KTTC

Iowa Public Radio: Sand launches 100-stop gubernatorial town hall tour in his hometown

Democratic nominee for governor Rob Sand played up his boyhood roots in Winneshiek County at a town hall in Decorah on Wednesday. It was the first event in a statewide tour which will bring the candidate to each of Iowa’s 100 county seats, including the dual county seats of Lee County, between now and the end of September.
“I remember them voting for candidates of both parties. It depended on who the person was, what the issues of the day were and how they felt about that person and their character,” he said.
The campaign estimated 350 people attended the event, filling a multi-level brewpub on the outskirts of Decorah. Many came from rural communities in the state’s northeast and voiced concerns ranging from population decline and cost of living increases to frustration with the political system.
Sand made repeated attempts to connect with conservative voices in the audience, directing the microphone to Republican-registered voters who were curious about what the candidate had to offer.

Decorah News: “Change or Stay the Same?” Sand Opens Statewide Tour in Decorah

Gubernatorial candidate and Decorah native Rob Sand kicked off his statewide 100 Town Hall Tour Wednesday evening at Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., drawing a crowd of about 350 northeast Iowa voters.
“We do 100 town halls a year,” Sand said. “We give at least two weeks’ notice before each one because it’s important to give people the opportunity to be here. This is not for show, it’s real. I do it that way because I feel that’s how it ought to be done, and I feel it should be required for elected officials in order to be on the ballot.”
“I think people have had enough of feeling like our democracy is run by two private clubs,” Sand said. “Solving problems is hard. What we need to be focused on isn’t right versus left, it’s right versus wrong. You have to be willing to criticize your own party or defend the other party when they’re right.”
“The biggest divide across the state is pretty simple: Do you want change or do you want things to stay the same?” he said. “I think the vast majority of Iowans are ready for something new. Growing up in a small town like Decorah, I know what it means to have checks and balances. We’re missing that in state government right now. I think people aren’t worried about being held accountable. There should be consequences for doing the wrong thing.”

Decorah Leader: Sand stresses public service over political power during second town hall in Decorah

Hundreds rose to their feet as Iowa’s State Auditor and gubernatorial hopeful Rob Sand, a native of Decorah, returned to his old stomping grounds for a second town hall event on Wednesday, June 17 at Toppling Goliath Brewery.
“It’s whether you want change or more of the same,” he said ahead of last week’s town hall. “I think the vast majority of Iowans are ready for something new. We have hit the point where we are number one for cancer growth, we are near the bottom for economic growth and the folks in the capital building have been focused on defunding water quality monitoring and making it harder for the state auditor’s office to find misspent money. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“This state is about balance,” he said. “It is about putting guardrails up around people who have tremendous power in our civic lives. It is about telling politicians, ‘We vote for you. We don’t worship you.’”
“We have had 10 years of one-party control in Iowa,” Sand said. “That is how we got to the place where Iowa has been at the bottom for economic growth, at the top for cancer growth and that is why, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to rotate the crops in Des Moines.”

The Gazette: Frustrated Iowa state employee finds an ally in Rob Sand at Monticello town hall

Nicole Rushford came to Rob Sand’s town hall Thursday angry over changes she said have left state employees feeling disrespected and uncertain about their futures.
“So the state of Iowa is one of the largest employers in Jones County,” Rushford, who works in human resources at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, led into a question for Sand during the town hall at the Great Jones County Fairgrounds. “It feels that the state is trying to balance the budget on the backs of state employees.
“A big piece of this comes down to respect,” Sand said. “These working conditions are unsafe, our prisons are understaffed, we are seeing assaults by prisoners on employees increase every year and it took two people being murdered for them to actually meaningfully take action.”
Sand also answered questions Thursday on mental health services in schools, public education, Medicaid privatization and campaign finance. He said Iowa should pay competitive wages to mental health workers, reverse Medicaid privatization and require school districts to participate in his auditor’s office’s Public Innovations and Efficiencies program.
“I think he’s honest, I think that he really wants the best for Iowa and Iowans, and that’s what I want too,” Rushford said.

Dubuque Telegraph-Herald: Sand talks partisanship, education at Manchester stop

A native of Decorah, Sand kicked off his tour there Wednesday before stopping in Guttenberg, Manchester and Anamosa on Thursday, where he drew crowds of over 60, 100 and 90 respectively, according to his campaign. The current state auditor has been a vocal proponent of public town halls during his time in office and has called for elected officials to be required to hold them as part of his campaign.
“We’re available. If people want to compliment me or criticize me, either way, they can come in and do it,” Sand said. “I think that means a lot to most Iowans. And in addition to that, I think that having somebody that was born and raised in a small town in Iowa, grew up there … means a lot to people, too.”
The gubernatorial candidate focused on his “Truer Better” agenda while addressing Delaware County voters in Manchester. He criticized hyper-partisanship in modern politics, saying voters shouldn’t have to choose the “lesser of two evils” every general election.

KMCH Radio: Democratic Governor Nominee Rob Sand Hosts Town Hall in Manchester

Rob Sand hosted a town hall meeting at the Delaware County Community Center at the fairgrounds in Manchester. Over one hundred people RSVP’d and attended Thursday’s event to meet Sand and hear him speak about how he would lead the state.
Sand kicked off his annual 100 Town Hall Tour in his hometown of Decorah on Wednesday night, with town hall meetings also in Guttenberg and Anamosa on Thursday – and he plans to reach every county in the state as he does every year.
Sand has also announced a new policy proposal as part of his “Accountability for All” agenda – making public town halls a requirement for elected officials to qualify on the Iowa ballot.