Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat holding statewide office, announced today (on Monday) that he is running for governor. The 2026 race will be wide open after Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, announced last month that she was no longer seeking re-election. Republicans have served as governor in the state since Terry Branstad was elected to the position in 2010 with Reynolds as his lieutenant governor. Sand, a Decorah native, is serving his second term as state auditor having been re-elected in 2022. He is the first Democrat to announce his campaign for governor and joins former state representative Brad Sherman, a Republican, as the first two candidates to announce their gubernatorial runs for 2026.
