Rob Sand visits six towns in Southeast Iowa Monday

FAIRFIELD – Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand visited six towns in Southeast Iowa Monday, Sept. 29, including stops in Washington, Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant.

Sand is the state’s auditor who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor. He sat down with The Union just before his talk at the Fairfield Community Center and answered questions about his role as auditor, how he plans to win in a state that is increasingly Republican, and his views on issues such as occupational licensing and school vouchers.

AUDITOR

Sand was elected state auditor in 2019, and he said the past nearly six years have given him keen insight into how government works and ensuring that tax dollars are used wisely. He said he’s proud of his seven years spent as chief public corruption prosecutor in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

“I think people have noticed that, after we uncovered a record amount of misspent money in my first term, the Legislature and governor worked together to make it easier for state agencies to hide evidence of waste and abuse from the Auditor’s Office,” he said. “I would love to restore the Auditor’s Office’s ability to find misspent money. One of the obligations of government should be to tell the people who are paying for it what’s happening with their money.”

ECONOMY

Sand said he wants to improve the state’s economy, which he said ranks No. 49 in the country. When asked why the state is struggling, Sand said it was because “Folks in Des Moines have been spending hours and hours figuring out how to hide the money they’re going to misspend, and picking on people who are different rather than solving problems facing the state.”

Sand’s contention that the state ranks No. 49 refers to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that reported Iowa’s economy contracted 0.5 percent in 2024, making it the second-worst performing state in economic growth, ahead of only North Dakota. At the same time, other sources painted a rosier picture of the state, with U.S. News and World Report ranking Iowa No. 3 in Opportunity and No. 6 in Best Overall State in 2024.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The Union asked Sand how he plans to address the gains the Republican Party has made in the state, both in the State Legislature over the past 10-15 years, as well as the state flipping from supporting Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 to supporting Republican Donald Trump in each of the past three presidential elections. Sand did not see this as an obstacle to his own path to victory, noting that he had won two statewide races to be the state’s auditor.

“I’m trying to be a public servant, not a party leader,” he said. “Iowans have consistently been willing to support people who understand the need for change. Barack Obama talked a lot about the need for change, and so did Donald Trump. A lot of people who were Trump voters turned around and voter for me, both for my election and re-election.”

ISSUES

The Union asked Sand for his thoughts on occupational licensing reform, making it easier to obtain the credentials necessary to work in a certain industry. Sand said he couldn’t give a sweeping answer to the question since he felt the proper degree of regulation depended on the job.

“For electricians, we probably want to make sure they’re highly trained professionals, because we don’t want houses burning down,” he said. “On the other hand, for barbers, there’s not the same level of importance.”

On the issue of school vouchers, Sand said he does not like what he calls the program’s lack of oversight.

“If a private school wants to, the senior leadership can vacation in Florida and they can use tax dollars to pay for it,” Sand said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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