Republican Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer is running to be Iowa’s next state auditor in 2026, she announced Tuesday.
“As Iowa continues to cut taxes and streamline government, the auditor’s office must lead by example and serve as a true watchdog for the taxpayer — not a political weapon,” she said in a news release. “It’s time for an auditor who prioritizes transparency, efficiency and results over headlines and partisanship.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Cournoyer as lieutenant governor in December 2024 after former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg resigned. Cournoyer served as a state senator for about six years before resigning to become lieutenant governor. Last month, Reynolds announced she won’t run for reelection.
“For the same reasons I selected Chris Cournoyer to serve alongside me as lieutenant governor, I’m proud to endorse her to be Iowa’s next state auditor,” Reynolds said Tuesday. “Chris is a true fiscal conservative with a strong record of improving government efficiencies and accountability. Her background in technology and her unwavering commitment to taxpayers makes her an ideal watchdog every Iowan can trust. Iowans can rest assured Chris Cournoyer will always have their best interests at heart.”
The current state auditor is Rob Sand, the only Democrat elected to a statewide office in Iowa. He is expected to run for governor in 2026.
Cournoyer highlighted her work in the Legislature on cutting taxes, reorganizing state government to find efficiencies, and strengthening data privacy protections. If elected, she said she wants to improve the auditor’s role in helping local governments find efficiencies, integrate artificial intelligence into the auditing process and work with Reynolds’ DOGE task force on modernizing government.
“The people of Iowa deserve an auditor who will protect their dollars, keep politics out of the office and bring a business-minded, results-oriented approach to every audit,” Cournoyer said. “That’s exactly what I intend to deliver.”
Before becoming a state senator, she ran an independent web development business, served on her local school board and taught robotics and coding. Cournoyer has also been a substitute teacher and a reserve sheriff’s deputy.
A spokesperson for Sand issued a statement Tuesday.
“Auditor Sand is proud of creating a tri-partisan leadership team that has always included people who contributed to his 2018 opponent, the government efficiency program they created, and the fact that they uncovered a record amount of misspent money in his first term before Sen. Cournoyer and others created a new law that gutted their ability to find misspent money,” Sand spokesperson Sam Roecker said in an emailed statement.
As a Republican member of the Iowa Senate, Cournoyer voted for a bill that removed the auditor’s ability to take state agencies and officials to court if they refuse to provide records during an investigation.
