The Gazette Editorial Board: “Rob Sand is the Best Choice for Iowa Governor”

“Sand has been accessible, consistent and authentic as he campaigned and has shown he thinks about Iowa’s issues with a desire to make Iowa better.”

DES MOINES, IA – Today, The Cedar Rapids Gazette Editorial Board endorsed Rob Sand to be Iowa’s next governor, citing his “experience, willingness to work across partisan lines and willingness to listen to Iowans” as reasons for its endorsement. The Editorial Board pointed to Sand’s comprehensive policy plans and clear vision for tackling the challenges facing Iowa from day one, contrasting his detailed proposals with Zach Lahn’s lack of a written policy agenda. The Board also raised serious concerns about Lahn, arguing that he “lacks the knowledge and understanding of Iowa’s issues,” and called his positions “disqualifying.” This endorsement comes just days after the Des Moines Register also endorsed Rob, saying he would bring welcome change to Iowa and “bring out the best in Iowa and Iowans.”

Read more about The Gazette Editorial Board’s endorsement of Rob Sand HERE or below:

The Gazette: Rob Sand is the best choice for Iowa governor

Iowa has an open race for governor on the ballot for the first time in 20 years. Republican Zach Lahn, a businessman who owns a farm near Belle Plaine, is facing off against Democratic candidate Rob Sand, the current state auditor.
Sand, who has released detailed plans for his agenda and has pledged to be a problem-solver who will work with both his allies and his political opponents to find solutions, earns our endorsement.
On water quality, for example, Sand has a detailed plan to address nitrate draining from agricultural operations into Iowa’s waterways. Lahn has also sought to make water cleanup a priority, but he has not put his ideas in writing, so it’s hard to say the goal posts won’t move after the election.
Sand’s priorities best match the editorial stances we’ve taken. We appreciate that he wants to focus on public schools, which have been maligned by the current governor and her legislative allies talking about “liberal indoctrination.” Lahn argues “Marxists” are teaching in schools.
Sand has been accessible, consistent and authentic as he campaigned and has shown he thinks about Iowa’s issues with a desire to make Iowa better.
Lahn’s return to the state as a full-time resident in 2023 means he lacks the knowledge and understanding of Iowa’s issues we expect. He’s run as a political outsider, but Americans for Prosperity put him in charge of a campaign designed to kill Medicaid expansion in Montana. It failed.
His promise to end required vaccinations for school enrollment is a red flag. It would drop vaccination rates that already are too low and risk the lives of kids with medical conditions who cannot be vaccinated. Catering to anti-vaccine activists while causing broader harm to others is reckless, and we believe, disqualifying.
Iowa’s next governor will face a number of big problems regarding healthcare, education and Iowa’s high cancer rate, not to mention a budget shortfall. We believe Sand’s experience, willingness to work across partisan lines and willingness to listen to Iowans, as he did at dozens of town halls across the state during the past year, makes him the best candidate to find the solutions Iowa needs.