Rob Sand Shares Vision for a Better, Truer Iowa at Iowa State Fair

DES MOINES, IA – This week, nominee for governor Rob Sand made multiple visits to the Iowa State Fair, stopping for classic appearances at the Iowa Pork Producers Tent and at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox. Everywhere Rob went, he spoke with Iowans about the importance of upholding the longstanding Iowa tradition of divided government. For ten years, one-party control has led Iowa down the path of rising cancer rates, a failing education system, and a budget deficit. Rob wants to end one-party control and bring Iowa back to divided government – because when our elected officials are forced to  work together, Iowans get the best outcomes.

Learn more about Rob’s time at the fair below:

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WOWT: Rob Sand pitches unity, cross-party cabinet at Iowa State Fair soapbox

KGAN: Sand talks agricultural trade as he takes on the pork tent at the Iowa State Fair

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Des Moines Register: Rob Sand leads ‘America the Beautiful’ singalong at Register Soapbox

• Just like he does at each of his town halls, Democratic governor candidate Rob Sand kicked off his appearance at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox with a round of “America the Beautiful.”  

• “They want us to hate our neighbors,” he said. “Let’s take a minute to love our neighbors.”

• “They [New York and California] have problems,” he said. “Now, some of the problems are different because the parties are different. But many of them are actually the same, because when too few people have too much power for too long, bad things happen.”

• “You finish this phrase,” he told the crowd. “Power corrupts, and absolute power …” “Corrupts absolutely,” they answered back. 

• But he said he has no problem bucking members of both parties. He said he’s taken stances that members of his own party disagree with, and he has pushed for audits of state government that have irked Republicans in office.

• “But when all those folks in both political parties got mad at me, do you know what? I didn’t care,” he said. “I’ve been pissing off powerful people in both parties on your behalf as your state auditor. I’d like to keep doing it as your governor.”

The Gazette: Sand says he’d undo private Medicaid management on Day 1

• Sand, responding to a reporter’s question on Saturday, addressed claims made a day earlier at the State Fair, by Lahn and Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann.

• Sand presented all the arguments he has been making throughout his campaign during his 20 minutes of remarks Saturday on the Register Soapbox — which was attended by a large crowd that spilled onto the main State Fair concourse. Among others, he talked about his opposition to a political system dominated by two major parties, Democrats and Republicans; and his push for the state to force state workers found guilty of harassment to pay any settlements rather than the state.

• Asked for any additional examples outside of the arguments Sand lays out in his typical campaign speech, Sand said the auditor’s office rejected a public records request from the Democratic National Committee for “allegations of wrongdoing by (Gov.) Kim Reynolds.” Sand said the national Democratic party made the request twice, and his office rejected it both times.

• “We gave them absolutely nothing because we believe that our job under Iowa law was to give them nothing,” Sand said. “And at the end of the day, we’re here to follow Iowa law and not do what some private club asks us to do.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Democrat Rob Sand calls for civility in contentious Iowa governor race

• Iowa Auditor Rob Sand called for his opponents and his own supporters to be “respectful” Saturday as the race for Iowa governor heats up.

• His speech at the Soapbox followed the format of many of his campaign stops, beginning by leading the group in singing “America the Beautiful,” and telling the crowd that Iowa needs an end to one-party control and regain a “balanced government.”

• The Democrat regularly brings up that he would be working with a Republican-controlled state Legislature if elected, which he argues would mean measures signed into law must be a compromise between Democrats and Republicans. When asked about concerns about potential gridlock, Sand said he would “work with anyone that I disagree with joyfully” — but said he does not have control over others’ actions.

• “I can’t control what other people are going to do,” Sand said. “I can only tell you that if I’m governor, I’m going to be working with everybody to do the stuff that the vast majority of people in this state want to do. The smartest thing for the Legislature to do is to do all the stuff that I just campaigned on. If I win this race, get it done, and then try to have an argument four years from now that’s focused on other stuff where maybe they think they could win. That’d be the smartest thing for them to do, and I hope they’ll do it. If they want to just fight instead, well, I’ll sign stuff that’s good, and those folks can understand that I’ll veto stuff that’s bad.”

• “Somebody needs to play goalkeeper up there and be the adult in the room that recognizes a bad idea — like gutting the state auditor’s office, like having no income limits on the school vouchers program that has a total lack of accountability, like defunding water quality monitoring, and on and on,” Sand said.

KGAN: Sand draws large fair crowd, emphasizes working across party lines

• Day two of the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox and Democratic candidate Rob Sand drew a large crowd of fairgoers as he made his case for Iowa governor.

• “When all those folks in both political parties got mad at me, do you know what? I didn’t care,” Sand said. “I’ve been pissing off powerful people in both parties, on your behalf, as your state auditor. I’d like to keep doing it as your governor.”

• “The idea is that its people who supported my opponent,” Sand said. “I’ll have people who supported my opponent in my cabinet.”