State Auditor Rob Sand will be the next governor of Iowa, NBC News projects, making him the first Democrat to be elected to the office in 20 years.
\n\nSand, who ran as a moderate, defeated Republican businessman Zach Lahn to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in a state President Donald Trump carried by 13 points in 2024.
\n\nAs the only Democratic statewide elected official in Iowa, Sand, 44, has long been seen as a rising star in a party that has sought to regain ground it lost in the Trump era in rural states.
\n\nEarlier this year, Sand cruised to the Democratic nomination, while Lahn, 40, pulled off an upset against Rep. Randy Feenstra in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
\n\nIn an expensive general election, Sand and his allies repeatedly cast Lahn as a carpetbagger and a “part-time Iowan” because he lived and voted in Kansas until recently and frequently traveled there during his campaign. Lahn explained in a debate why he was frequently in Kansas: “I have a blended family, and my kids split time,” he said.
\n\nFor his part, Lahn called Sand, “just like all the other Democrats,” in TV ads and labeled him a “liberal billionaire” in…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health