Posted: 4/28/2026 6:02:40 PM EDT
|
Starting to see his ads more, I don’t care for him. He looks like an actual Lizard Person. Guarantee he’s going to use his “hunting” background to destroy gun rights in IA. Abi Spanaberger 2.0 |
|
Unfortunately he's more appealing to the general population than any Republican that's running. His cutesy, whimsical, folksey ads are what have gotten him elected up to this point. I'm not a betting man, but I would place a large wager that he will be Iowa's next governor. ETA: The only saving grace is that I don't see the state legislature flipping anytime soon. It will be a lame duck session for the next 2-4 years. In some ways that won't be all bad. |
|
Part of the issue is Sands has no opposition in the primary. The Republican race is a bit crowded and attention is split. That said Sands is coming across better than Feenstra. I'm not sure running in lock step with Trump is a good strategy this election cycle. He won't take the middle with that campaign strategy and that's where Iowa elections are decided. I'm hard pressed to find anyone in my group of friends who likes Trump anymore. Like his policies, some, but personally despise Trump. Latest poll I saw had Sands 51%, Feenstra 39% and a lot of undecided. Sands has a major advantage in money at the present time. Iowa rarely lets one party control both the governorship and the legislature at the same time. We're due for a correction. Reynolds is widely unpopular and has left a bad taste with many voters. I don't see the legislature flipping. Narrow the gap a bit is likely the best the Democrats can hope for. The state Democratic Party is still a train wreck. Honestly they should be doing better than they are. The unions seem to be sitting this one out. The state workers union has been defanged and is largely irrelevant. All in all I'm not losing any sleep over it. Iowa has been a purple state for decades. always will be. A lot of what the Republicans ran on is now set in law. Changing much of that will be a long difficult process and I don't see the Dems having the votes to do it anytime soon. |
|
Originally Posted By Ameshawki: Part of the issue is Sands has no opposition in the primary. The Republican race is a bit crowded and attention is split. That said Sands is coming across better than Feenstra. I'm not sure running in lock step with Trump is a good strategy this election cycle. He won't take the middle with that campaign strategy and that's where Iowa elections are decided. I'm hard pressed to find anyone in my group of friends who likes Trump anymore. Like his policies, some, but personally despise Trump. Latest poll I saw had Sands 51%, Feenstra 39% and a lot of undecided. Sands has a major advantage in money at the present time. Iowa rarely lets one party control both the governorship and the legislature at the same time. We're due for a correction. Reynolds is widely unpopular and has left a bad taste with many voters. I don't see the legislature flipping. Narrow the gap a bit is likely the best the Democrats can hope for. The state Democratic Party is still a train wreck. Honestly they should be doing better than they are. The unions seem to be sitting this one out. The state workers union has been defanged and is largely irrelevant. All in all I'm not losing any sleep over it. Iowa has been a purple state for decades. always will be. A lot of what the Republicans ran on is now set in law. Changing much of that will be a long difficult process and I don't see the Dems having the votes to do it anytime soon. My sentiments exactly. Sand as governor could be a blessing in disguise. He won't have much power and frankly, our total Republican state government has gone full retard in many areas. On a plus side, it gets Sand out of the auditor's position. I have to deal with his policies often at a local government level. The useless nonsense he makes small towns and counties go through (and $$$ spent in the process) is downright ridiculous. Audits are more than necessary, but he takes it to the next level, almost all in the name of political clout for himself. I would like to think that there is a common sense replacement for him waiting in the wings. |
Member
Joined:
Nov 2024
Posts:
1346
EE: 0% (0)
IA, USA
|
Originally Posted By dawg69: Unfortunately he's more appealing to the general population than any Republican that's running. His cutesy, whimsical, folksey ads are what have gotten him elected up to this point. I'm not a betting man, but I would place a large wager that he will be Iowa's next governor. ETA: The only saving grace is that I don't see the state legislature flipping anytime soon. It will be a lame duck session for the next 2-4 years. In some ways that won't be all bad. I agree with you. |
|
Feenstra didn't make it. Mild upset. He barely ran a campaign. I can't decide if he thought he was a shoe-in or his heart wasn't really in it. Honestly I never really warmed up to him. The northwest Iowa Dutch don't always do well outside their home turf. Dealt with them in a prior career. They can be an insular group. Could be an interesting race. I suspect Sands is going to have to re-calibrate, I assume he thought Feenstra was going to be his opponent. Labeling him as an anti abortion, anti public schools Trump mouth piece would have been easy and likely would have played well across the state. Lahn is a bit of an unknown. He needs to get out in front and define himself before the Dems start piling on. Be interesting to watch. Iowans rarely let one party stay in complete power very long. We're over due for a correction. I don't see the legislature flipping, the gap is just to much for one election. Sands I presume will be favored. I think the AG race might get some attention. Auditor as well. |
|
Originally Posted By Kalahnikid: I voted in a Primary election for the first time in my life yesterday specifically to vote against Feenstra (my current Congressman) I can't stand him, so happy to see him gone.  I confess I didn't. I bat a 1000 on general elections but I can be hit or miss on primaries and local elections. I'm guessing the general will result is some form of Iowa gridlock, which I actually think much of Iowa prefers. If they can't get much good done, they probably can't do much bad either. |
|
Originally Posted By Ameshawki: I'm still trying to figure out who Zach Lahn is. He's far better than Sand, who is basically a lazy trust fund baby. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Joined:
Apr 2022
Posts:
538
EE: 100% (90)
IA, USA
|
Originally Posted By MartinSsempa: Former Rep Steve King apparently endorses Zach Lahn. That's good enough for me. big ooof. That's about the worst endorsement an Iowa politician could ask for when it comes to getting the "undecided" vote to actually help win. King is polarizing. |
|
Originally Posted By amaixner: big ooof. That's about the worst endorsement an Iowa politician could ask for when it comes to getting the "undecided" vote to actually help win. King is polarizing. Been out of office since 2021. He's pretty much forgotten. Outside of northwest Iowa he's poison. |
|
The national media is starting to pay attention to Rob Sand's laziness. Just another trust fund baby who wants to be Governor and then POTUS. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
|
Originally Posted By F224: The national media is starting to pay attention to Rob Sand's laziness. Just another trust fund baby who wants to be Governor and then POTUS. Matt Vespa? Never heard of him. The trust fund baby thing is straight out of the RNC playbook. The Republicans are playing a weak hand. Reynolds has alienated large parts of the electorate. Trump is, well, he's Trump for all that is good and bad and lately it's been mostly bad Trump. Lahn is still largely unknown. If you were to ask an Iowa on the street about him they probably say "Oh, the guy for Kansas." This is going to be an uphill battle for the Republicans. Deep in their heart of hearts I think they know this is a lost cause. Iowans rarely trust one party with total power for more than a couple of election cycles. We're do for a correction. That's just how Iowa voters act. |
|
Rob Sand comes across to me as an incompetent buffoon who has been very successful in convincing people that he is anything but. Giving one of his PIE Awards to Ian Roberts--a scam artist and fraudster that Sand *should* have been able to catch--seems like the par for the course for him. In the primaries, I changed my registration from "no party" to the GOP so I could vote against Feenstra and got behind Lahn. To be perfectly honest, I have never liked or trusted Donald Trump and sadly, my suspicions have been confirmed many times over. Because of that, I wanted to see his hand-picked candidate, Feenstra, lose. On to the generals, Lahn will still need to give me a reason to vote *for* him and "I am not Rob Sand" is not good enough. |
|
Originally Posted By GrandForks: Rob Sand comes across to me as an incompetent buffoon who has been very successful in convincing people that he is anything but. Giving one of his PIE Awards to Ian Roberts--a scam artist and fraudster that Sand *should* have been able to catch--seems like the par for the course for him. In the primaries, I changed my registration from "no party" to the GOP so I could vote against Feenstra and got behind Lahn. To be perfectly honest, I have never liked or trusted Donald Trump and sadly, my suspicions have been confirmed many times over. Because of that, I wanted to see his hand-picked candidate, Feenstra, lose. On to the generals, Lahn will still need to give me a reason to vote *for* him and "I am not Rob Sand" is not good enough. So far Lahn's commercials aren't helping. It seems his biggest selling point is he bought the family farm. Going to need a bit more than that. It's almost like he didn't expect to win and is now trying to figure out a message or a campaign strategy. I have a pretty good idea who Sand is, Lahn is still a blank slate to me. |
| Sand's is an idiot will be a disaster. The fact that many of the big-money republicans were supporting Feenstra should be a good enough endorsement of Lahn. He was clearly not the choice of "machine". I suggest that you consider the lesser of two evils, we know what Sand's is and that makes the choice of voting against him easy. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
|
Endorsements don't mean squat in Iowa. He's got to give people a reason to vote for him. He hasn't so far. Not Feensta isn't a campaign strategy. Painting Sand as just another liberal in sheep's clothing is a long shot. Sand has already identified himself to the voters. For better or worse his image is set and it's going to be very difficult for Republicans to change that this late in the game. Sand not having a primary opponent was a huge advantage. He's months ahead of the Republicans. They're playing catch up. The don't have a lot of time and I don't think they have the money. A huge negative campaign at this point will probably turn off as many voters as it converts. They would probably have to go outside for money and that's the one thing they can rightly criticize Sand's on. Can't have it both ways. Honestly I think the smart Republican money has written this one off. I don't see the legislature flipping, the numbers are just to big to overcome. They'll narrow but the Iowa Democratic Party is still a train wreck. Sand as governor would not be the end of the world. He won't have the legislature. The Iowa Governorship is a constitutionally weak office, he can't institute wholesale changes even if he wants to. He may very well be in empty suit. If elected he will have some heavy lifting to do. FWIW, I'm undecided on the race. Sand has been interesting, even entertaining at times. He's run a disciplined campaign and has stayed on message. I'm not sure the Republicans have figured him out yet. The old labels aren't sticking. Haven't seen anything like this in a very long time. If Sand wins he need to send a thank you note to President Trump. He's riding an anti-Trump wave but he never mentions the President. |
|
Don't underestimate the negative impact that the crazy's in the Democratic party (DSA) are going to have on this falls election. Also, don't overestimate Sand's ability to self destruct, like all the rich entitled kids do when they have to debate an adult. The only poll that will count is the one on election day. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Joined:
Aug 2025
Posts:
2
EE: 0% (0)
USA