Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand and Republican businessman Zach Lahn are running to replace Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is not seeking reelection.
The statewide contest has drawn money and support from politicians on both sides. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg are among the high-profile Democrats who have traveled to the state in support of Sand. And earlier this October President Donald Trump held a rally in Sioux City where he threw his support behind Lahn.
A Marist Poll released Oct. 15 found Sand had 52% support among likely voters, compared with Lahn’s 45%. The survey, conducted Oct. 8 through 11, had a margin of error of plus or minus 6.6 percentage points. The Cook Political Report has ranked the race as "lean Democrat."
In the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, Lahn received nearly $16.9 million in cash contributions, about $561,000 more than Sand’s $16.3 million. The filings cover July 15 through Oct. 14.
RGA Right Direction PAC, affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, provided Lahn $11.8 million — about 70% of his cash donations. The Republican Party of Iowa supplied another $1.72 million.
MAHA Action PAC contributed $1 million on Sept. 16. The group supports the Make America Healthy Again movement associated with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On Oct. 15, after the reporting cutoff, the PAC announced a $1.5 million donation to Lahn’s campaign.
The Democratic Governors Association gave Sand $5.5 million. Another $1.25 million came from his wife, Christine Sand, mother-in-law, Nancy Lauridsen, and brother-in-law, Augustine Lauridsen.
Those large amounts came alongside thousands of smaller gifts. Sand’s campaign said it received more than 88,000 contributions from all 99 Iowa counties.
Sand is currently the only Democrat to hold statewide office in Iowa. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Lahnwon the Republican primary in a crowded field of GOP hopefuls that included U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra. It was a major upset for Feenstra, who was initially viewed as the frontrunner in the primary and was endorsed by Trump a few days before the election.
Republicans currently hold a trifecta of power in the statehouse, and Republicans are likely to maintain their majority in both chambers. A win for Lahn would keep a trifecta of power with the GOP, while a win for Sand would force more bipartisanship.
