Red state warned it now faces a ‘time bomb’ ready to detonate

With the primaries over, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said Thursday his general election approach will remain focused on bipartisanship and finding “reasonable” solutions for Iowans as he faces off against businessman Zach Lahn in November.

Sand spoke at the Iowa Association of Business and Industry conference in Coralville. The nonpartisan gubernatorial candidate forum, which took place two days after the June 2 primary, had also issued an invitation to the GOP gubernatorial nominee to speak before the winner of the nomination was known. ABI staff said they had reached out individually to Zach Lahn after his Tuesday victory in the Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary and asked him to speak the Thursday event, but the Republican was not able to attend because of the short turnaround.

Sand told the crowd many of Iowa’s challenges in economic growth and healthcare stem from Republicans holding a trifecta in Iowa for more than 10 years — but said he did not believe this was a “partisan problem.”

“I like to tell people, ‘If you think that the answer to that is to give the other party 10 years of one-party control, I invite you to please visit California, visit New York,'” Sand said. “The other party having all the power isn’t the answer, because it leads you to the same problem. … Part of how we have gotten to this position is because we have had too few people in, with too much power, for too long. They have fallen into temptation, looking out for themselves and their friends. This is not good for Iowa, it is not good for our business environment, it is not good for recruiting and retaining talented people in the state of Iowa.”

Sand said what he offers as a gubernatorial candidate is not Democratic control, but a mandate for Democrats and Republicans to work together.

“If I win this race, I’m going to be working with the Republican Legislature, right?” Sand said. “If that is news to you, good morning. You slept in. It’s 2026. There is a super majority of Republicans in the Iowa House by one seat, there is not a supermajority in the Iowa Senate, also by one seat. That means everything that we do is going to be supported by people in both parties. I think that that is what most people actually want. They will not be able to just do whatever they want, they’re gonna have to come talk to me and explain it in a way that gets somebody like me to say, ‘yeah, seems reasonable.’ Which means that when a budget gets passed, everybody in this room is probably going to be able to say, ‘yeah, seems reasonable.'”

There was not a contested primary race for the Democratic nomination — and Sand, who currently serves as the state auditor, has led in fundraising so far in 2026 compared to the Republican field. Though the Iowa governor’s seat has been held by a Republican for more than a decade, political forecasters rate the seat as a “toss-up” heading into the midterms, both because the seat is open as Gov. Kim Reynolds is not seeking reelection and because election watchers believe Sand is a candidate who could gather bipartisan appeal.

Republican leaders have said Sand is falsely claiming he is a moderate on his gubernatorial campaign trail. After the gubernatorial primary, Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann called for Republicans to rally behind Lahn as the candidate who will “work to keep Iowa the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

“Now it is time to unite behind our nominee and stop Democrat Rob Sand who would take our state down the same failed path as Illinois, Minnesota, and California with higher taxes, bigger government, and less freedom,” Kaufmann said in a statement. “Iowa’s future is on the ballot, and Republicans must stand together to keep our state moving in the right direction.”

Though Sand shared policy positions and stances that he said differed from many Democrats, he also spoke in opposition to several measures instituted by Republicans in the past 10 years, like Medicaid privatization. As he spoke before the group of Iowa business owners and leaders, he fielded questions from members of the audience who were in support of actions taken to lower taxes in the state.

Sand fields tax question

David Bywater, with the Economy Advertising Company in Iowa City, said “Iowa’s gone from one of the highest tax states in which to do business to a more competitive state, allowing Iowa employers to reinvest in their operations and their people, and to provide individuals with more take-home pay” under recent state tax law changes, and asked Sand to share his views on the state’s tax climate and potential changes.

Sand responded, “I think that some of the tax reforms that we have done in Iowa over the last few years have been necessary.” However, he also said he wants “to know where I am before I decide what direction I am going,” in appraising the impacts recent tax cuts — and said he was concerned about the state’s ongoing budget deficit, which he said was a “fiscal time bomb.”

“There’s a principle that I have spoken about — and that all of my predecessors as state auditor have spoken about — which is you do not use one-time money for ongoing expenses,” Sand said. “And yet, that’s what we have been doing, and we have been doing it year after year after year. I think that that is a problem, and anyone who wants to tell you that that isn’t a problem, they’re either trying to deceive you or they themselves aren’t tuned in to what this looks like in the long term. This surplus is there because both of the last two presidents have showered money on every state, and now different states have used it different ways. Iowa decided to stockpile it, and they’re using that stockpile to pay and cover those deficits. I am not telling you that that is the wrong thing to do. I am telling you that will end.”

Sand said his top priority is figuring out how to address the ongoing budget deficit “right before the bomb explodes,” which he said could be done by finding new sources of revenue for the state. He pointed to his proposal to legalize and tax recreational cannabis products as one way the state could generate funding.

While Lahn did not appear at the ABI event, Sand told reporters he is prepared to face Lahn as the GOP nominee, and aims to continue on the campaign’s current path of speaking with Democrats, Republicans and independents at events across the state. He has announced campaign stops from June 17 through Sept. 30 as part of his 2026 100 Town Hall Tour, paired with a policy proposal to require elected officials hold public town halls to qualify for the ballot.

Sand said there are currently no debates or forums scheduled where he will face off against Lahn.