The Iowa gubernatorial race is happening this year, a down-ticket contest that, once again, some have written off. However, only Fox News shows Democratic Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand up by nine points over Republican Zach Lahn. Cygnal and Siena College have Lahn trailing by five and one point, respectively. It’s not a dead heat yet, but there’s something about Rob Sand that needs to be examined—specifically, whether he is showing up for work.
During his tenure, tens of millions of dollars were misallocated to Iowa’s court system. The report on the subject was released in February:
…the House Government Oversight Committee voted to approve a Majority Report detailing the investigation into the Iowa Judicial Branch’s misallocation of approximately $25 million in court debt funds. The report, which covers Fiscal Years 2021 through 2024, describes a pattern of financial mismanagement, three years of concealment from the public, and a failure by the State Auditor to conduct necessary oversight.
Representative Charley Thomson (R-Charles City), Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, authored the comprehensive Majority Report.
"In short: the Judicial Branch knew in 2021 [about the misallocation], the Auditor knew in 2022, the Legislature was told in 2024 — and the public paid the price throughout," the report states.
While the state’s General Fund was overpaid, critical programs were shortchanged, including the Road Use Tax Fund (shorted $10.4 million), the Victim Compensation Fund (shorted $3.7 million), and the Juvenile Detention Home Fund (shorted $3.5 million).
The report is particularly critical of State Auditor Rob Sand’s role in the crisis, citing a "stunning abdication of oversight responsibility by the State Auditor's Office."
"State Auditor Rob Sand's office was notified of the issue on October 7, 2022. His Chief of Staff responded that they would 'take it from here.' They did nothing of the sort. [...] Auditor Sand's comments to the Committee leave him in no danger of being confused with some fearless crusader for the general welfare of Iowans."
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Also, Sand’s campaign has some very strict rules for his town hall events, namely that Republicans apparently can’t be there.
Not only are Rob Sand's handlers kicking Republicans out of his events, but it would also seem that they aren't big fans of people posting clips of the things he says at them. pic.twitter.com/qyOUxHYBJR
— Lahn HQ (@LahnHQ) July 22, 2026
🚨 BOMB SHELL: Rob Sand Campaign accused of barring a 19 year old from multiple town halls, calling them “Private Events”
— Hawkeye Enjoyer (IOWA FIRST) 🐤 (@HawkGuyEnjoyer) July 10, 2026
If your “town hall” is only open to people who already agree with you, it’s not much of a town hall.
Many Iowa Dems are asking Rob to drop out. Wow! pic.twitter.com/hCeNfq0ZO9
Iowa State House Rep. Craig Williams also said that for at least two years, Sand never showed up for work. His parking space was right across from his, and he was never at work. His office was used for subcommittee hearings because it was never occupied.
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