Sand flips Iowa governor’s mansion in major win for Democrats

Democrat Rob Sand is projected to win the race for Iowa governor, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

Despite the state heavily favoring Republicans in recent years — President Trump won Iowa by more than 13 percentage points in 2024 — Sand was leading his GOP opponent, Zach Lahn, in the polls ahead of Election Day for the open seat. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) opted not to seek a third term.

DDHQ projected Sand won over Lahn by about 23 percentage points with 26 percent of votes reported as of 9:57 p.m. EST.

Sand is the first Democrat to win the Iowa governor’s office in nearly 20 years, and he has a reputation as a political survivor. Sand was the only Democrat to win a statewide race when he was reelected as state auditor in 2022.

Despite the Democratic label, Sand presented himself on the campaign trail as a centrist who would rather be unaligned with either party.

Sand and Lahn both leaned into the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, blaming “Big Ag” for Iowa’s cancer rates and supporting expanded conservation efforts to reduce pollution in waterways.

Still, Sand’s victory is a blow to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vision of MAHA as an arm of the Republican Party, closely aligned with Trump and MAGA.

Republicans banked on Kennedy and the MAHA label being enough to boost turnout for the GOP, even though MAHA isn’t always aligned with traditional Republican views.