Rob Sand is a Déjà Vu Democrat Who’d Spend Iowa Into Ruin | Opinion

Sound budgeting has been a hallmark of Republican leadership in the Iowa governor’s office and state Legislature. Let’s keep that going.

Chuck Grassley | Guest columnist As Published in The Des Moines Register

Oct. 22, 2026

I want to remind Iowans how Republicans have steadily managed our state budget with fiscal responsibility and respect for your hard-earned tax dollars. In this historic election — the first time in 58 years Iowa has had open seats for governor and U.S. Senate at the top of the ticket — voters need to take a cue from recent history and remember that past Democratic governors have produced deficits and debt when they’ve run our state.

Not so long ago, Iowa’s state government was in a fiscal crisis. Then-Gov. Chet Culver was adding billions in debt to the state coffers and spending more than the state took in each year. This may seem like water under the bridge, but what’s past is prologue, and Iowans can’t afford to forget. Voters elected Gov. Terry Branstad, Gov. Kim Reynolds and a Republican state Legislature to fix the fiscal mess. For the past 15 years, Iowans have benefited from this steady and prudent fiscal management.

Electing Democrat Rob Sand would throw sand in the gears of Iowa’s good government with the tried-and-failed playbook of tax, borrow and spend.

Sand wants to budget like Culver, returning to the days of out-of-control spending, deficit and debt. When Culver and the Democrats were last in charge in 2010, they left the state government with a billion-dollar deficit to close, authorized $1.7 billion in new debt through a bonding scheme, and accepted a half-a-billion-dollar bailout from the federal government. Democrats also drained the rainy day funds, and property tax relief for homeowners, farmers, veterans and seniors was underfunded. Don’t forget, the last two Democratic governors implemented four mid-year across-the-board cuts to schools and vital social services, including 4.5% and 10% cuts, to fix their out-of-control spending.

Since 2011, Iowa clawed its way back to fiscal responsibility thanks to Republican governors committed to responsible budgeting. Republicans have ensured the state government lives within its means. State government spending has grown modestly. The governor and the Legislature have cut wasteful spending, completed a state agency reduction and reform, and implemented government efficiency initiatives to maximize every last dollar. They’ve done all of this while replenishing Iowa’s rainy funds, and returning money back to hardworking taxpayers through the Taxpayer Relief Fund and historic individual income and property tax cuts. As a result of Republican-led fiscal prudence, Iowa’s competitive income tax rate is attracting jobs, investment and economic growth. It’s been lowered by over half to a flat rate of 3.8%, retirement income is no longer taxed, and billions in property tax relief have been enacted.

We can’t take this sound budgeting and pro-taxpayer government for granted. Don’t be fooled by slogans and soundbites. Rob Sand is a déjà vu Democrat who will spend like a socialist and return Iowa to a doomsday of deficits and debt. His campaign has woven a make-believe fairy tale hoping voters fall for hocus pocus. Reality tells a different story.

Sound budgeting has been a hallmark of Republican leadership in the Iowa governor’s office and state Legislature. Let’s keep that going. Republican candidate Zach Lahn will continue this commitment to responsible fiscal stewardship that protects the taxpayer and keeps our economy on the right track.

Chuck Grassley is a Republican U.S. Senator representing Iowa.

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