DES MOINES, Iowa – State Auditor Rob Sand announced on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that he will run for a second term for state auditor in 2022.
“I didn’t run for office because I love politics. I ran for office because I can’t stand it – too many people putting partisan interests ahead of public interests. Too many people protecting insiders, doing what they want instead of what they are supposed to do,” the 39-year-old Democrat said in a video he made while walking his dog.
“We are doing it differently. Instead of firing people who made campaign contributions to my opponent’s campaign who work in the state auditor’s office, I kept them and I promoted some of them to senior positions. I’ve got a Democrat, an independent, and a Republican in senior positions in the office. I think that’s the way it ought to be done,” Sand added.
“We are also doing a great job of partnering with local entities, saving you tax dollars locally through our PIE program, which stands for ‘Public Innovations and Efficiencies’ and in the long-run we are going to be able to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer savings through helping local entities find ways to save money,” he explained.
“Those are great things to be doing and I’m really proud to be doing them and I want to keep doing them,” Sand stated.
? Here’s my update on 2022 ?
I hope you'll be with me for the work ahead!
Contribute here: https://t.co/rvZE6ltJnk
Get emails here: https://t.co/mVJ4w74WpZ pic.twitter.com/d7LZ5H3Ly9— Rob Sand (@RobSandIA) December 7, 2021
Sand defeated Mary Mosiman, the incumbent Republican state auditor in 2018, 51 percent to 46.4 percent, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office since 1939.
Sand while in office has butted up against Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds criticizing the Test Iowa reporting process, pointing out provider complaints about the state’s Medicaid privatization, stating that some Iowans were illegally denied care through Medicaid’s privatization, stating that Reynolds broke the law using taxpayer funding for a COVID-19 PSA campaign, misused $21 million in CARES Act funding to pay for Workday, a new accounting and human resources system, that the U.S. Treasury Department Inspector General said the state needed to pay back, and said the governor’s office misused CARES ACT funds to pay salaries.
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufman accused Sand of “weaponizing the state auditor’s office responding to his announcement.
“Rob Sand has spent his time as State Auditor weaponizing the office and using it as a means to attack his political enemies. His antics are simply desperate attempts to gain media notoriety. Iowans want a State Auditor who is serious, focused on ensuring their tax dollars are spent properly and being a watchdog over their pocketbooks. Rob Sand only cares about how many times his cheap and misleading attacks are retweeted,” he said.
His announcement ends speculation that he would run for Governor in 2022.
The Republican Governor’s Association spokesperson Maddie Anderson said, “Iowa Democrats are terrified to challenge Governor Kim Reynolds. We don’t blame them.”
However two Democrats have announced they would seek the nomination to challenge Reynolds. State Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo, was the first to announce in June and then Deidre DeJear who ran for Secretary of State unsuccessfully in 2018 announced in August.
