More than 300 people packed East High School in Des Moines on Sunday night for Rob Sand's closing campaign rally, where the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor stood alongside Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack two days before polls open across the state. The event capped a frantic final stretch in a governor's race that has drawn tens of millions of dollars from both parties as Election Day approached.
Sand's campaign said more than 300 people turned out for the rally, according to KCCI. The gathering came as KGAN reported the rally took place just hours after President Donald Trump's own visit to the state, where he campaigned for Sand's Republican opponent, Zach Lahn, in Dubuque. Sand and Lahn are facing off in an open race because Gov. Kim Reynolds chose not to seek reelection, as noted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Democrats Lean on Star Power and National Stakes
Beshear, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association and has led Kentucky since 2019 after winning reelection there in 2023, told the crowd the organization had been all in for Sand, investing more than $10 million to get him elected, per the same account from the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He also asked attendees whether they were ready to flip the U.S. House and Senate, win Iowa's governorship, and then elect a Democratic president in 2028 — a nod to his own standing as a potential future contender for that ticket.
Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, argued that an Iowa win for Sand would send a national message about the kind of campaigns voters want, according to KGAN. Iowa Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, who is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in the state's 3rd Congressional District, also joined the Des Moines event, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly had separately stopped in Iowa earlier in support of Sand's bid.
Sand's Closing Pitch: Town Halls and a Warning Against One-Party Rule
Sand told supporters the polls look favorable but insisted his campaign could not take the outcome for granted, warning that the alternative would be four more years of one-party control in Des Moines, per KGAN. He has leaned heavily on retail politics throughout the race — the KCCI report noted he held 200 public town halls during the campaign and pointed to 15 years fighting corruption, including seven years as a public corruption prosecutor and two terms as state auditor, as the foundation of his pitch to voters.
That ground-game strategy echoed an earlier Get Out the Vote rally in Iowa City, where Sand addressed a smaller crowd of about 75 supporters on October 28, according to Iowa Public Radio. The station reported Sand has pitched himself as a bipartisan leader and repeatedly urged supporters to help turn out voters, framing unaffiliated Iowans as the deciding factor in a race both parties consider close.
Money, Polls and a Historic Stakes
The financial scale of the contest has been enormous. Iowa Public Radio's fundraising coverage found Sand spent $28.9 million in the most recent reporting period compared with Lahn's $17.5 million, pushing their combined expenses past $46 million, while Lahn actually out-raised Sand in cash contributions between July 15 and October 14, nearly $16.9 million to $16.3 million. Sand nonetheless finished that period with $5.35 million banked versus roughly $403,000 for Lahn, the station reported, with the Democratic Governors Association contributing $5.5 million directly to Sand's campaign and the Republican Governors Association giving Lahn $15.5 million, according to PolitiFact.
Polling has consistently shown Sand ahead. A Marist Poll conducted October 8-11 found Sand leading Lahn 52% to 45% among likely voters, with his advantage widening to 11 points among registered voters and a commanding 67% to 26% edge among likely independent voters, according to the poll's own published results. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race as lean Democrat, and the 19th News reported that cancer rates and water quality — Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the nation and is among the few states where it continues to rise — have dominated the campaign, with both candidates saying they want better water monitoring and support for local farmers.
If Sand wins Tuesday, he would become Iowa's first Democratic governor since 2011, a milestone that has drawn national Democratic figures to the state in the race's closing days. Sand and Lahn met for their first debate on October 6 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, part of a campaign that has also seen outside spending from groups like MAHA Action, which donated $1 million to Lahn's campaign this fall. In-person absentee voting opened October 14, with Election Day set for Tuesday, November 3.
