Rob Sand takes office as governor of Iowa in January 2027. The Associated Press called the governor's race for Sand on election night, November 3, and Iowa Public Radio reports that he takes office in January, succeeding Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who decided not to seek another term. Iowa must certify its election results by November 30, and Sand will then be sworn in for a four-year term.
The plain reality is how long the wait has been. Iowa has not elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years — the last was Chet Culver in 2006, and Republicans have held the office since 2011. Sand, the two-term state auditor and the only Democrat holding statewide office in Iowa, defeated Republican businessman Zach Lahn 55.4 percent to 44.5 percent, an 11-point win in a state President Donald Trump carried by more than 13 points in 2024.
Balanced government has been restored. In January, no Iowan has to fear their government anymore. — Rob Sand, election night
Sand claims the win as a mandate for that balance. He thanked the Republicans and independents who crossed over for him, and this week, taping Iowa Press on Friday, he said he hoped lawmakers would not move to restrict the governor's power before he takes office — a matter, he said, of respecting the voters' choice in the 2026 election. His running mate, Dave Muhlbauer, takes office alongside him as lieutenant governor.
The common-sense principle is the one Sand campaigned on: one-party control removes the check. For about a decade, Iowa has had a Republican trifecta — the governor's office and both chambers of the legislature in one party's hands. From January, every bill the Republican legislature passes needs a Democratic governor's signature, and every Sand veto takes two-thirds of both chambers to override. Neither side can govern without the other, whether it wants to or not.
The first test of that arrived within days. Some Democrats and observers questioned whether Republicans would call a special session in the final two months before Sand takes office to restrict the governor's powers. House Speaker Pat Grassley said on Friday that he does not believe a special session will be called before the new governor takes office in January, and Republican lawmakers re-elected Grassley as House speaker for 2027 the same day. Sand, 44, arrives with a record as the assistant attorney general who prosecuted the largest lottery-rigging scheme in U.S. history, and an agenda built on public schools, affordability and ending Medicaid privatization. He is not the only Democrat taking over a governor's office his party had lost for a generation — in Texas, Gina Hinojosa is the first Democratic governor-elect since Ann Richards. The question January will answer is whether a Republican legislature that just lost the governor's office chooses to govern with Sand, or around him.
Sand gave his own answer on election night: “Come January, we will be forced to work together.”