By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Humboldt, IA – Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand called for bipartisan leadership while outlining his priorities on health care, education, water quality and government accountability during a public town hall Monday at the Humboldt Community Center. The event required attendees to RSVP in advance to receive the location.
Sand began the afternoon by speaking with local media before taking questions from residents during the town hall, which was part of his statewide campaign.
Speaking with reporters, Sand acknowledged that if elected governor he would work with Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, saying successful leadership requires cooperation rather than confrontation.
“I say everywhere I go I’ll be working with the Republican legislature if I win,” Sand said. “I like working with people I disagree with. I think that’s actually most Iowans’ perspective. I think we ought to be back and focused on pocketbooks, the stuff that’s impacting 100 percent of Iowans.”
Health care was among the first issues Sand discussed. He said lowering costs and improving care would begin with reversing Iowa’s privatized Medicaid system.
“We need to make health care costs go down in the state of Iowa and improve the quality of care, and we can do that by reversing the privatization of Medicaid,” Sand said. “I think government’s supposed to work and serve ordinary people, not companies that are extracting every penny they can from them.”
Sand also addressed Iowa’s Education Savings Account program. While stopping short of calling for its repeal, he said the program should include greater oversight and accountability.
“We should have rules for how the money gets spent. We should have audits so that we can actually see that the money is spent according to the rules,” Sand said.
He also called for income limits on the program and restrictions preventing private schools from raising tuition to match state funding.
Water quality was another major topic during the interview. Sand said improving Iowa’s waterways is both a policy issue and a personal one.
“I’m raising my kids right here in Iowa. They drink Iowa water. They play in Iowa water. This is personal to me. Our plan, it’s not just avoiding immunity for companies that make people sick. It’s also expanding our wetlands massively and our grazing land, because those are two of the things that filter water better than almost anything else,” Sand said.
About 90 people attended the hour-long town hall, where Sand emphasized the need for divided government, arguing Iowa’s political climate has become increasingly polarized.
“Our political system is broken,” Sand said. “It’s run by two private clubs, the Democratic and Republican parties. We get lies and demonization and hatred for our neighbors, and we don’t get problems solved.
“It is time to rotate the crops in the Capitol Building in Des Moines. It is time to have divided government again. Iowa had divided government for 40 years. Republicans and Democrats had to work together. They had to compromise. They had to solve problems. And what did we get? We got the best schools in the country. We got clean water. We got balanced budgets. We got low taxes. We got all kinds of things that made Iowa the envy of the nation.”
Sand said he wants to return to what he described as a more balanced style of governing.
“I want to get back to what Iowa is, which is balanced government. Not government where one party gets whatever it wants and nobody can stop it,” he said.
Throughout the event, audience members questioned Sand on education, election integrity, immigration, government spending, school vouchers and environmental policy.
Asked how he would accomplish his agenda with Republican control of the Legislature, Sand again emphasized bipartisan cooperation.
“If I win this election, I will be working with the Republican legislature,” he said. “What we can do is endless if we want to work on the things that the vast majority of people want to do.”
Sand also defended his record as state auditor, highlighting investigations into government waste, fraud and corruption. He said his approach to public service has been holding elected officials accountable regardless of political party.
“I would love to continue to make powerful people mad on your behalf if you make me your governor,” Sand told the audience.
While much of Sand’s visit focused on his policy proposals, he also criticized Republican nominee Zach Lahn.
During the town hall, Sand questioned Lahn’s ties to Iowa, noting he has spent significant time living and working outside the state.
“My opponent is a human being, God bless him,” Sand said. “But we have real problems in the state of Iowa. Real Iowans need to have a governor who is full-time devoted to their problems and is full-time in the state of Iowa to address them.”
Sand also criticized Lahn’s political background, saying he has spent years working behind the scenes in Republican politics and supported many of the policies Sand opposes.
“He has been working in politics behind the scenes as an operative, full-time paid for a decade,” Sand said. “He has helped elect some of the people that gutted the auditor’s office.”
Sand also argued Lahn supports expanding Iowa’s Education Savings Account program and has taken positions Sand disagrees with on public schools and health care.
Sand contrasted his campaign style with his opponent’s, noting he has held public town halls across Iowa and encouraged unscripted questions from voters.
“I’m willing to go out and stand in front of Iowans and answer questions from anyone on any side of the political spectrum,” Sand said during an interview before the town hall. “I think that’s a distinction so far in this race between myself and my opponent.”
He said voters deserve direct access to candidates throughout the campaign.
Sand closed the town hall by encouraging supporters to volunteer and vote in November, saying his campaign is focused on restoring bipartisan problem-solving and making Iowa “not redder or bluer, but better and truer.”
Sand is seeking to succeed Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who announced she will not seek reelection. He will face Republican nominee Zach Lahn in the November general election.