Trump and Republicans get BAD NEWS in DEEP RED state

I'm joined now for candidate for. governor in Iowa, Rob Sand. Rob, thanks. for joining me. >> Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Happy. to be here. >> So, we have seen a lot of really. exciting uh moves in Iowa as it relates. to these recent special elections. The. latest one showed uh showed the. Democratic candidate Caitlyn Dre winning. by about a 20 point margin, different. from what we saw in 2024. So, first and. foremost, what's happening in Iowa? And. is it as red as I think we've been led. to believe? >> Yeah. Uh,

two really good questions and I've got. some very specific answers to them. Uh, as as state auditor, you can imagine I'm. kind of a numbers guy, so I'll give you. some numbers. Uh, but credit to Caitlyn. number one, right? She worked really. hard. >> Yeah. >> Uh, but we've had a couple of really. hardworking candidates and Ians are fed. up is the bottom line. So, a lot of. people are reading about uh the race. that Caitlyn just won. more than a 20. point overperformance from the uh. expectation from the presidential race.

last fall. But that is the fourth race, the fourth special election in Iowa this. year. And every single one of them have. seen that 20 point overperformance. Every single one. Which I think, and. somebody should audit me on this, I. think that puts us as having four of the. top five overperformances in the nation. And we've only had four special. elections. So, and I think that I think. that goes to say, you know, like Iowa. isn't uh a state where people want to be.

defined by a color. Um, we are a state. where, you know, people look at the map. and they're like, "Oh, the Republicans. won, but we lost the closest. congressional race in American history. in 2020. We lost the closest. congressional defense for an incumbent. Democrat in 2022. And then we had the. highest overperformance, closest loss. for a Democratic challenger in 2024, right? And then for the state statewide. down ballot races out of six races for.

state office, statewide state office in. uh 2022, me and the attorney general and the. state treasurer all hit at least 49% of. the vote. So half Ians went for three. Democrats, three Republicans. This is. not a state where people are allergic to. voting for Democrats. >> And so with the recent uh announcement. from Senator Joanie Erns that she's not. running for her Senate seat, um what. does that say about the broader. environment right now uh in Iowa?

>> I I think she can read the writing on. the wall. >> Yeah. >> Right. Um. >> I and I I think that she understands. like people here are fed up. People are. fired up. I don't have a window into her. thinking. Uh but it it I think it's a a. good sign in general. Um you know, as. you know, uh open seats are an. opportunity for voters to really think. about direction. You know, someone's. saying, "I'm hanging it up." Well, you. got a real choice to make. Uh and I. think that's I think that's good.

>> In your conversations with voters, and. I'm specifically interested in folks who. didn't who who didn't or don't usually. vote for Democrats, but how have those. conversations gone? And I asked this. because so much of of how people think. about voting, their their political. affiliation is often so closely aligned. with with their own identity. And so uh. and I think that's by design, right? Like like politicians want people to. think like, okay, I'm, you know, I'm an. Ian. I'm an American. I'm a Republican. because it makes it that much more.

difficult to to pull them away from just. voting for any Republican, any person. with an R next to their name when they. get to the ballot box because that's who. they are. And so, how has that kind of. manifested itself in your conversations. with voters? >> I So, I I would I always go back to. this. You know, people say, "Oh, how did. Iowa change after going for Barack Obama. twice to go for Donald Trump three. times?" Iowa didn't change. Those two. guys have one important thing in common. They're both people who challenged their. party's orthodoxy and said that they. were going to do politics differently.

And that resonates with a lot of Ians. We actually have a pretty proud. tradition in Iowa, even going back past. that with uh government reform things. where we have said we don't like. politics as usual. Um and and so when I. when I look at that, when I'm talking to. Ians, we're seeing people come out of. the woodwork saying we like Rob Sands. campaign for governor. Uh I I was. walking around in a mall. I had a guy. who had never voted in his life. He's 28. years old. He said, "I'm going to. register to vote to vote for you because.

I I believe in the message that we. should be bigger than Democrats versus. Republicans," which is the heart of this. campaign. I mean, if if we've got a. slogan, it's not redder or bluer, but. better and truer. Um, there's a man who. was in Governor Kim Reynolds cabinet. until very recently who was recommended. for that job by US Senator Joanie Ernst. who wrote an op-ed about how disgusted. he is with the state of politics in. America. But he says, "Sa for governor. is talking about doing something about.

this in a way that even me, even as a as. someone who's cynical and frustrated, thinks is very real and very genuine.". And he's right. Uh and then and then. after the special election, um you know, the the Iowa Republican. Party criticized the local Republicans. and they stood up for themselves. They. said, "No, we've worked really hard.". And a a uh a county supervisor from up. there, a Republican, put a video out and. said very plainly, whether you're. Democrat, independent, or Republican, the policy that's coming out of De Moine.

is garbage. >> Yeah. >> And he spoke for two minutes about the. gutting of the auditor's office. Right. We had found a record amount of misspent. money in my first term as the state. auditor and the answer to that from the. insiders in De Moines was literally pass. a law to make it easier to hide misspent. money from the auditor's office. Right? And this guy's just going off on that. and and he said he thinks I'm going to. win the race. I just think that people. have been looking at what's going on in. De Moine with 10 years of Republican. control and they are fed up. And that's. not exclusive to Democrats and.

independents. It's a lot of Republicans, too. And I think the way I think about. it, it tends to be more of like this is. really a question of insiders versus. outsiders or public servants versus. politicians. And people are starting to, I think, see it more as that rather than. just the Democrat or Republican piece of. identity that you're talking about. >> You'd mentioned um this idea of doing. things differently. What does that look. like for your campaign? I mean, number one, I this is differently than most. politicians, but I've been doing it. every year since I got since I ran the.

first time. Um, I do a hundred public. town halls every single year. I tell. people in advance that we're coming. And. so this year, we actually announced all. 100 stops on the same day like a rock. band. Here's our tour all the way. through October. And, you know, we we. say Democrats, independents, Republicans, everybody's welcome. We. start the events by actually having. people raise their hand for their party. affiliation. We clap for each other and. then we sing the first verse of America. the Beautiful together. >> Yeah. >> Uh it's it's really wonderful. Um but.

the bigger piece of that to me I think. is the the the way I've done the work in. the office of the state auditor. The. most senior positions in the office I I. filled with an independent and a. Republican who had made campaign. contributions to my opponent. But I want. to have people around who think. differently than me because I think. that's actually helpful. Um we we have. done more to criticize uh people in my. own party or defend people in the other. party when it's the right thing to do. than anybody else in the state. And I.

think people notice that. So if you ask. Ians how's the state auditor doing. twothirds of them will have an opinion. of that. And of the people who have got. an opinion 80% say they like the work. that we're doing. >> Yeah. Rob, how how does this moment in. particular in the aftermath of the Biden. presidency, but also watching, you know, a lot of um a lot of septtogenarians and. oxygenarians either uh announce their. retirements or um pass away in office. I. mean, starting from Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

to Jerry Connelly. Um obviously, you. know, Biden's age was a huge issue in. this uh in this last election. How does. the idea of generational change um make. you think about this this moment that. you're in right now? I think I think. people are ready for it. Um I'm one of. the people that before Biden announced. his plans I said we should have age. limits like and and the age limit that I. picked yes would have made him too old. Um and the Iowa Supreme Court when you. hit 72 they say it's just mandatory. retirement. Thank you for your service. Enjoy your retirement. You know we.

should do that. And I think people are. fed up. I think they're ready for the. next generation of leaders. Um, and I. and I think a big piece of that is just. sort of having this sense of like. wholesale brokenness for the political. system. And when people look at that, I. do think they understand that some of. that has to do with the people who are. there who have been there for too long. And I I talk about this too in terms of. the Democratic party, right? I don't. like the idea that we can only have two. choices on our ballot. And it leads to. complacency. It leads to people who feel. like, "Oh, I'm entitled to this elected.

office just because I have the right. letter behind my name and I live in the. right neighborhood or the right county. and so I'm just going to have this." And. then they don't have to solve solve our. problems because there's no real. competition for the job. I think that's. one of the biggest problems that we face. right now. It's like the base level. problem. Pick a problem, right? Mental. health issues, uh, education issues, our. economy. The reason that we don't have. more effective, more frequent uh.

addressing of those issues is because. elected officials know ah solving. problems is hard. Demonizing my opponent. to get reelected is easy. >> In your conversations with voters, and. and I'm asking this question because so. much of what we see is dictated by. beltway uh journalists and and pundits, in your conversations with folks in your. state, what's been the most resonant. issue? what what what are you hearing. kind of like on the most constant basis. is the thing that is moving voters one. way or the other. >> I I I do really think that uh high costs.

is a focus of real concern for people. Affordability, you know, I keep hearing. about people whose health insurance. premiums are going up double digits. Uh. beyond that, in the state of Iowa, I. think there's three issues that here are. are pretty unique but resonant. Uh what. people are concerned about water quality. here in the state of Iowa. We've got uh. very high nitrate levels. Uh people are. concerned about education. We just. passed this school vouchers bill that. has no oversight for hundreds of. millions of dollars that's getting.

spent. >> Yeah. >> And again, I go back to just this sort. of red flag of ridiculousness of, oh, the auditor is doing his job. Let's make. it harder for him to find more spent. money. It like it just it people's faces. turn when you tell them about their bill. that bill, you know, they're just. they're so angry about it. And it's not. a thing that they think about all the. time, but it's something that when you. remind them of it, you're they're just. like, "Right, these people are done. Throw the bums out.". >> Yeah. Rob, how can uh folks who are. watching, listening, help your campaign.

>> Robsand.com. Uh if you want to join us. and pitch in, that's great. We'd love to. have your uh support, you can volunteer. Uh you can donate at robsand.com. >> And I would just echo that for anybody. who's watching, something is happening. in Iowa. If ever there was a cycle uh to. to usher in some real change here, this. is it. Uh also important to donate. early. If anybody's considering donating. and you're wondering whether it's worth. it to do it now or to do it closer to. the election, the closer we get to the. election, the more expensive everything. gets, the more saturated everything.

gets, the more inundated everybody gets, and the more time the other party will. have to define Rob. So, uh, uh, offering. up these contributions now, donating to. his campaign now allows him to define. himself, uh, so that there isn't a. vacuum created where his where his. opponents can define him. So, again, I'll put that link right here on the. screen and also in the post description. of this video. Rob, thanks for taking. the time. Best luck in the campaign. trail. >> Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me, Brian. Appreciate it.