Iowa governor's race between Rob Sand and Zach Lahn tests Republicans' grip on state government

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa voters will choose their next governor in Tuesday's midterm elections, deciding between Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn in a race that could end conservative dominance across state government.

Sand and Lahn both campaigned on criticisms of the state’s status quo, including a deepening budget deficit, an increasing cost of living, dwindling health care access, high cancer rates and water pollution. But they offered voters starkly different visions for replacing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who decided not to run again.

Sand is the face of his party's hopes for restoring Democratic leadership, despite his efforts to keep his distance from partisan politics. He's built his candidacy around his anti-corruption agenda as state auditor and his small-town upbringing. He won his last election by a razor-thin margin — fewer than 3,000 votes — but he has outperformed other Democrats in previous races, especially in rural areas.

Lahn is a newcomer to Iowa politics who generated buzz from grassroots activists and supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “ Make America Healthy Again ” movement. He won the Republican primary over a congressman endorsed by President Donald Trump.

The open race — in a midterm when Republicans face national headwinds — revived Iowa's status as battleground territory even though Democrats are outnumbered among party-affiliated registered voters.

In a sign of the campaign's competitiveness, many of Iowa’s prominent industry groups in agriculture and business declined to weigh in on the contest, endorsing in other contests but not the governor’s race.

Sand, 44, often laments the way the country's political system forces people to pick sides, even as he has only run for office as a Democrat and has donated substantially to the party. He acknowledged he’d likely have to work with Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, saying divided government would be good for solving problems.

Throughout his campaign, he criticized Republicans for ignoring a worsening budget deficit that’s emerged from their tax cuts and investment in education savings accounts, which provide students with public dollars to pay for private school tuition.

He said he’d also be a check on Republican efforts to push culture war bills from the Statehouse, such as further limits on abortion or restrictions on how teachers discuss certain topics.

Sand has worked for years to build a visible — and likable — public profile in the state by holding annual county town halls, publicizing his findings as a former state prosecutor and as auditor and being active on social media. That included posting about what he’s eating around the state, nodding at his northeast Iowa roots and sharing his bowhunting escapades.

A first-time candidate who was little-known when he began running for governor, Lahn’s general election campaign was scaled up quickly after his surprise victory in the June primary.

Lahn, 40, won the primary by less than a percentage point over U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who had Trump's backing. Still, in a five-way race, he prevailed with only about a third of Republican primary voters supporting him.

Before launching his campaign for governor last November, Lahn had worked on launching innovative schools, including one in Wichita, Kansas, funded by Chase Koch, the son of Koch chairman and co-CEO Charles Koch. Lahn also previously worked in Montana for the Koch-based conservative political organization Americans for Prosperity.

In Iowa, Lahn owns an investment company and has revived the eastern Iowa farm that had been in his family for a century.

Lahn was still relatively unknown to even members of his own party when he won the primary, and some were hesitant to get behind him. He was not shy about pushing back on traditional Iowa GOP positions and said he had already been successful in changing the narrative within the Republican Party.

He campaigned on bringing antitrust lawsuits against agricultural conglomerates, questioning the health and safety of products used by farmers and reducing incentives for out-of-state companies buying farmland.

Still, toe-to-toe with Sand in debates, Lahn leaned on traditional party positions in contrasting himself with Sand, saying Sand would be a liberal governor who would raise taxes, increase regulations and push a political agenda in public education.

Lahn criticized Sand for the millions of dollars that his wife and in-laws have contributed to his campaign. Contrasting Sand with himself as a first-time candidate, Lahn called Sand a career politician. Sand was a prosecutor under a Democratic state attorney general before running for auditor in 2018.

Sand played up Lahn's background as a conservative political operative. Sand also hit Lahn for only recently returning to live in Iowa, registering to vote two years ago just before the deadline to run as a candidate in this election and traveling regularly out of the state.

Lahn has explained his frequent flights to Kansas as a result of his blended family, which he says won't affect his ability to govern. Lahn and his wife, Annie, both have children from previous marriages who do not live full-time in Iowa.

Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn arrives to speak during a campaign rally at the Five Flags Event Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand speaks to supporters during a canvass launch, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn speaks to reporters during a campaign event at Shotgun Betty's bar, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand speaks during a union rally, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading, with Apple falling but other stocks picking up the slack following strong profit reports. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% early Tuesday, though more stocks were falling than rising within the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 212 points, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.5%. Apple fell 3.2% after saying it expects to make less profit from each $1 of its revenue during the final three months of this year. The price of Brent crude fell 1.7% to $103 a barrel. Indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — U.S. futures were mixed Tuesday ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and with concerns continuing to grow about the huge costs of expansion in the artificial intelligence sector.

Oil prices rebounded from a sharp retreat to start the week after the United States conducted defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

The outcome of Tuesday's vote could fundamentally reshape President Donald Trump's final two years in the White House. Republicans and Democrats are battling for control of Congress and key governors' offices at a time of widespread disaffection over high prices.

The futures for the S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.25%.

It's been a mixed performance for indexes to start the week though the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 climbed as oil prices retreated. After falling nearly 8% Monday, Brent crude rose almost 2% to $106.50 per barrel early Tuesday after the U.S. attacked Iran's Qeshm Island. U.S. benchmark crude tumbled 8% to start the week, but rose 2% to reach $98.49 per barrel Tuesday. Energy prices have been extremely vulnerable due to uncertainty over when the war with Iran will end.

It has also been volatile for artificial-intelligence companies amid criticism that shares have surged too high and are in a bubble. Worries are growing that all the hundreds of billions of dollars Big Tech companies are pouring into AI data centers won’t yield enough productivity and profit to make the investments worth it.

Apple, which has been perceived as a late-starter in the AI race, posted stronger-than-expected revenue in the fourth quarter after the bell Monday, but shares slid 4% early Tuesday amid surging global demand for memory and expenses related to its release of Siri AI. Palantir also reported quarterly earnings after the bell. Its shares slumped 8% in premarket trading after a slowdown for its U.S. commercial bookings.

The latest profit reports from Alphabet and other Big Tech companies also showed how AI may be dragging on their own businesses. Google’s parent company burned through more cash during the latest quarter, as measured by free cash flow, and it reported slower-than-expected growth in its search business.

Expectations are high for all kinds of companies to continue to deliver big gains in profits as the U.S. economy keeps chugging along, even with high inflation and elevated interest rates. That helped send the S&P 500 to a record high last month.

In early European trading, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2% to 8,035.07, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.5% to 10,701.09, and Germany’s DAX declined 0.6% to 25,830.22.

In Asia, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi fell 4% to 5,626.08. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 5.7% and Samsung Electronics declined 4%, giving up Monday’s gains. Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 0.6% to 23,525.97.

The Shanghai Composite index retreated 0.8% to 3,608.10, near its lowest level in more than a year. Gains from market-supporting measures announced Monday were short-lived.

Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.

A screen displays a news conference by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Trader Michael Capolino, left, and Specialist Thomas McArdle work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

A dealer watches computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and SK Hynix stock price at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

An employee works at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV cameraman films the screen displaying the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)