With Biggest Crowd to Date, Rob Sand Closes Out Annual 100 Town Hall Tour in Polk County

DES MOINES, IA – Last week, nominee for governor Rob Sand wrapped up his 2026 100 Town Hall Tour in Polk County, with more than 1,800 Iowans packing the Val Air Ballroom for the largest town hall to date. This marks the second year in a row as a candidate for governor — and the ninth year overall as a public servant — that Rob has held a public town hall in every Iowa county.

Last week, Rob traveled to Poweshiek, Tama, Black Hawk, Scott, and Polk counties, connecting with nearly 4,000 Iowans in their communities and answering their honest, unscripted questions. Throughout the tour, Iowans packed union halls, VFWs, college campuses, and community rooms to take part in one of Iowa’s most sacred political traditions: a public town hall. Rob believes this is what public service should be about: showing up, listening, answering questions, and being accountable to the people you serve. As governor, Rob will keep doing exactly that, because you can’t serve people well if you aren’t willing to hear from them. He’s even gone as far as proposing mandatory public town halls for elected officials as one of his top policy priorities.

Learn more about Rob’s final Town Hall Tour stops below:

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KCCI: Sand wraps town-hall tour as Lahn campaigns in Polk County

Sand’s campaign said more than 1,000 people attended the event at Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines. It was the final stop on Sand’s 100-town-hall tour, which included events in all 99 Iowa counties.
Sand said Iowa should make sure any incentives for the project are worthwhile for taxpayers. He compared the proposal to data center deals, saying, “we gave away the farm,” and added, “I want to make sure that this is a real opportunity.”
Sand spoke about his own upbringing, including going to church, hunting and fishing, and his first job catching chickens.

WOI-TV: With just over a month until Iowa picks its next governor, Lahn and Sand make final campaign pushes

“Time for change in the state of Iowa, someone who loves this state and lives in this state,” Sand said in another event on Wednesday.
Cancer was the most common concern among everyone we spoke with and both candidates have plans on how to address the issue if elected.
“What I wanna do to address the cancer crisis is fund IWill (Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy),” Sand said. “This is something that Iowans voted for 16 years ago. 63% of the state voted for it, and despite that fact, the legislature has never funded it.”

WQAD8: Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand holds Davenport town hall

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Des Moines Register: Rob Sand marks 200th town hall with big crowd in West Des Moines

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand capped off his second statewide town hall tour Wednesday, Sept. 30, holding what organizers said was the largest of 200 such events across the state.
About 1,800 people braved drizzling skies and overflowing parking lots to crowd into the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines — the final stop on a route that has taken Sand through every county in the state twice since announcing his run for governor in May 2025.
Sand told reporters his message at the last town hall is the same as it was at the start: “Time for change in the state of Iowa with someone who loves this state and lives in this state.”
Nathan Hardy, a 47-year-old Ankeny resident, said he was surprised to see so many people at the town hall.
He’s been a fan of Sand ever since he said he was hired by Republicans to follow him for a day two years ago. He said he traveled with Sand to seven events.
“And there was something good in every stop,” Hardy said. “The one thing that he hammered on every time there and tonight is that he’s not a Democrat, he’s not a Republican, he’s an Iowan. And that’s what we really need — to get people out to vote as Iowans.”
“It caught me off guard, because I was expecting an auditor to be boring,” he said. “And he was a person, and he was there with his dog and his mom. Just great people.”
“I’ve met a lot of politicians, and there’s always a sense of phoniness to them,” Hardy said. “And everything Rob has said, Rob does, and I like that.”

The Gazette: Rob Sand draws 1,800-plus to Polk County event

More than 1,800 people, according to Sand’s campaign, attended the event featuring the Democratic candidate for Iowa governor. The crowd swallowed the ballroom’s main floor and seating areas, and spilled well into standing room-only spots.
“We have five weeks to do it, and I think we can win this campaign,” Sand told the crowd.
Julie and Scott Johnson, of Ankeny, were among those at the Val Air Ballroom. The self-described Democrats said they believed Sand would appeal to a large swath of Iowa voters beyond Democrats.
“The things he cares about, I think, make a lot of sense. He makes it easier to get on board with him,” Julie Johnson said.

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Sand completes second 99-county town hall tour of gubernatorial campaign

Sand held the final stop of his 2026 town hall tour Wednesday at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines. More than 1,800 people attended the Democratic candidate’s event, braving the rain and congested parking lots to attend.
“I think we can win this campaign,” Sand said. “I don’t think it because the polls show that we’re leading. They do. That’s nice. I think it because I know Iowans, and I know people are looking around the state, going, ‘What happened to our state?’”
The Democratic candidate specifically called on two people who had identified themselves as registered Republicans earlier in the event to ask him questions. One of the Republicans spoke in opposition to the state’s Education Savings Account program, the law providing public funding for private school tuition and associated costs — a program Sand has also been critical of as he calls for oversight measures and income limits.
“Let’s be nice, everybody,” Sand said. “Larry’s here to share his opinion in a room that he knew might not have a lot of people who shared it. That takes some courage … Larry’s concern was he thinks that the quality of Iowa’s public schools has gone down — and what are we doing to fix that? That’s a good question. Because whether or not we have an agreement or a disagreement about the quality of them, don’t we always want them to be better?”

Sun Courier: Rob Sand stumps for a different view in Iowa

“Pretty good view to sing that song to, isn’t it? Look out the windows here. Hats off to Tama County. You guys have got a great facility here,” Sand, 44, said late Monday afternoon to a crowd of roughly 100 people seated inside the Tama County Nature Center for the 97th stop of his annual 100 Town Hall Tour.
At this point, five weeks out from the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election, Sand has spent nearly 17 months officially campaigning for governor as a pragmatic Democrat with an independent streak.
Sand began his Tama County town hall by discussing what has become his signature campaign issue – the wholesale inadequacy of the two-party system when it comes to government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” to quote President Abraham Lincoln.
During the press gaggle, Sand was asked if he would continue to hold his 100 Town Hall Tour if elected governor. “Absolutely,” Sand responded. “I think we should require town halls the way I do them – open to the public (with) at least two weeks’ advance notice on date and time, and you have to take non-prescreened questions. All this is really easy to do, but it sorts the wheat from the chaff when it comes to people who are into politics versus those that are into public service.”
But in order to make such election law changes, Sand acknowledges “we got to work together to do it. … Because the truth is, there’s a lot of folks out there in both these private clubs that want us just to be mad at our neighbors … because it’s easier for them to control us.”

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Rob Sand draws 1,000 people to town hall meeting in Waterloo on Monday

Rob Sand got a warm welcome Monday night.
Sand, dressed casually in khakis and a button-down shirt, seemed at ease and down to earth — and he also seemed to connect with his audience, evidenced by a number of ovations and plenty of laughs.
“I think our political system is broken, because it’s run by two private clubs,” Sand said.
He bemoaned the divisiveness in politics, the special interest groups and insiders, saying politicians have learned to lie and demonize their opponents.