Rob Sand Leads 'America the Beautiful' Singalong at Iowa State Fair Soapbox

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand brought his signature town hall tradition to the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, leading a crowd in a rousing rendition of 'America the Beautiful' before delivering his pitch to voters at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.

Sand, who currently serves as Iowa's state auditor, said the moment carried extra weight this time, surrounded by the Americana atmosphere of the Grand Concourse.

'I saw somebody wiping away tears,' Sand told reporters after the speech. 'That happens fairly often.'

Sand urges Iowans to 'take a minute to love our neighbors'

Before diving into policy, Sand used the song to set a tone of unity, pushing back against what he called a culture of division in politics.

'They want us to hate our neighbors,' he said. 'Let's take a minute to love our neighbors.'

That message is central to his strategy as he works to win over voters in a state that has leaned Republican in recent cycles. Despite being the best-known Democrat in Iowa and the party's only statewide officeholder, Sand emphasized his independent streak.

He noted that he first registered to vote as an independent and criticized the two-party system for often forcing voters to choose the 'lesser of two evils.'

'When I registered as a Democrat in order to vote in a primary, I did it for a few different reasons,' he said. 'One is my faith. The New Testament is focused on the least of these, and the idea that what you do to the least of these you do to me.'

Sand ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and has been campaigning aggressively since announcing his bid last spring. He will face Republican nominee Zach Lahn, who secured a surprise victory in June's five-way GOP primary.

Sand says it's time to 'rotate the crops' in Iowa

Sand argued that many of Iowa's problems stem from a decade of single-party Republican control in Des Moines. He also pointed to Democrat-led states like California and New York as examples of what happens when one party holds too much power.

'They have problems,' he said. 'Now, some of the problems are different because the parties are different. But many of them are actually the same, because when too few people have too much power for too long, bad things happen.'

He engaged the crowd with a familiar call-and-response, asking them to finish the phrase: 'Power corrupts, and absolute power...'

'Corrupts absolutely,' they answered back.

Sand said solutions that work for a time can become unbalanced if left in place too long, drawing on an agricultural analogy that resonated with fairgoers.

'You gotta take it out and put something else in,' he said. 'I just described crop rotation, and that works for politicians the same way it does for corn and beans, ladies and gentlemen. Time to rotate the crops in the Capitol building.'

Sand says divided government can force bipartisanship

Sand harkened back to an era when Iowa sent both Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican Chuck Grassley to the U.S. Senate, arguing that voters intentionally chose leaders from different parties to force cooperation.

'We sent Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley to the United States Senate together not because we were confused that they belonged in different political parties, but because we knew they did,' he said. 'And we knew they needed to work together to make sure that common sense prevailed.'

If elected, Sand would face a Republican-controlled Legislature. He said he believes state government functions best when voters force both parties to work together, and he made clear he has no problem crossing party lines.

Sand noted that he has taken positions that angered members of his own party and has pursued audits that frustrated Republicans in office.

'But when all those folks in both political parties got mad at me, do you know what? I didn't care,' he said. 'I've been pissing off powerful people in both parties on your behalf as your state auditor. I'd like to keep doing it as your governor.'

The Iowa State Fair Political Soapbox has long been a staple of the state's political calendar, giving candidates a chance to address voters in a casual, festive setting. Sand's appearance marked another stop in his campaign tour as the general election season heats up.