Top Nonpartisan Analyst Shifts IA Gov Race in Favor of Rob Sand
DES MOINES – Last week, the nonpartisan race-rater Inside Elections moved the Iowa governor’s race in favor of Rob Sand thanks to the wide-open and messy primary splintering the Republican base.
Inside Elections: “Republicans have a crowded primary to sort through that’s no more clear than when unpopular Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she wouldn’t seek another term. Rep. Randy Feenstra … hasn’t gotten past the perception he was too distant from Trump during the 2024 presidential primaries. Special elections continue to break against Iowa Republicans as well. Move from Likely Republican to Lean Republican.”
Randy Feenstra, Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, Brad Sherman, and Eddie Andrews are locked in a nasty primary with no clear frontrunner. They are all running to continue Reynolds’ failed record that’s put Iowa’s economy last in the nation, failed our schools, and made health care harder to access and more expensive. While Feenstra continues to face major problems with his own party, GOP activists are planning for the “very, very real possibility” that this wide-open primary goes to a “contested” convention.
This new rating follows National Journal naming the Iowa governor’s race the second-best pickup opportunity for Democrats in 2026.
From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:
“We’re nearly two months out from primary day, and Randy Feenstra, Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, Brad Sherman, and Eddie Andrews remain locked in a messy race that looks like it’s headed to an even nastier convention in June. Alarm bells are going off for Iowa Republicans because their base is splintered and they know the status quo after a decade of one-party rule will be impossible for their nominee to defend: an economy in decline, failing public schools, and working families losing access to health care as politicians in state and in D.C. drive up costs.”
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