{"id":20363,"date":"2026-03-21T18:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-democrats-are-betting-big-on-a-buck-hunter\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T18:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:02:20","slug":"why-democrats-are-betting-big-on-a-buck-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/why-democrats-are-betting-big-on-a-buck-hunter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Democrats are betting big on a buck hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DES MOINES \u2014 Rob Sand got a hero\u2019s welcome at a state deer hunting expo at the Iowa Events Center on a recent March weekend.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s lone Democratic statewide elected official, and Democrats\u2019 hope for flipping the governor\u2019s mansion for the first time in 16 years, could barely make it through the Sunday morning sea of camo-wearing, venison jerky-chomping, Busch Light tallboy-nursing fellow hunters as more than a dozen people stopped and congratulated him.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t because of his politics. If anything, it was in spite of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob, heckuva <\/i>buck!\u201d said one passerby.<\/p>\n

Sand was at the annual Iowa Deer Classic to enter a Green gross-scoring<\/u><\/a> 209-inch buck he\u2019d tagged earlier this season. Photos of the deer have proliferated on Trophy Bucks of Iowa and other Facebook hunting groups across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. 200!\u201d said Levi Schmitz, a Trump-voting Republican who nonetheless plans to back Sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got me,\u201d the 43-year-old state auditor responded with a grin.<\/p>\n

As Democrats across the map continue to hunt for paths out of the metaphorical wilderness, Sand is betting that his own path to the governor\u2019s mansion runs through his familiarity in the literal<\/i> wilderness.<\/p>\n

Sand represents the kind of candidate Democrats have long sought to win on tough red terrain: an inarguably of-the-place contender whose persona and bio can help sell political views that have become a tough pitch in places where many hear \u201cDemocrat\u201d and picture coastal elites. Iowa, a swing state through 2012, moved hard right in the Trump years as Democrats increasingly struggled to connect.<\/p>\n

Here, Republicans have taken advantage of the culture wars in a big way for years. Retiring Sen. Joni Ernst first won in 2014 by running hard on her pig-farming, military vet bio and painting her attorney opponent as an effete outsider.<\/p>\n

Sand doesn\u2019t run from some of his more liberal views. But like many other Democrats running this year, he\u2019s banking that his local cultural cred will make him tougher for Republicans to caricature as a not-like-us coastal outsider.The day the expo kicked off, the avid bow hunter and fisherman\u2019s campaign launched a \u201cHunting With Rob<\/u><\/a>\u201d microsite that extolls the rugged Iowa way of life. \u201cFor the first time in Iowa history, hunters, sportsmen, conservationists, and outdoor enthusiasts alike will finally have an ally in the governor\u2019s office,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n

\"Rob<\/p>\n

In a state where the first day of deer season is an unofficial holiday, Sand\u2019s strategy to center his culturally midwestern hobby rather than his Democratic brand was on full display. He dropped $30 on a glove for removing burrs, $35 on a tool that keeps hunting bows level and $69 on MAXX Step Aiders for climbing trees. And the branding appeared to be working.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super-Republican, but you got my vote,\u201d said Tom Buckroyd, a hunter from a small community near Marshalltown wearing a \u201cCrossbows Are Gay\u201d T-shirt who spent roughly 20 minutes talking to Sand about hunting.<\/p>\n

As he picked at a free sample of barbecue venison jerky on a toothpick, Sand said he wasn\u2019t surprised by his warm reception.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumber one, it just means I shot a huge buck this year,\u201d he told Blue Light News. \u201cBut number two, I go back to culture. And we have this stupid, broken, two-choice political system. \u2026 And we are told stories about who can be right in either party. And when you find someone that\u2019s in a party, but then also doesn\u2019t fit that story, I think for a lot of people that is a sign of realness or a sign of authenticity about who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since their bruising losses in 2024, Democrats have tried all manner of ways to rehabilitate their brand, from cursing more<\/u><\/a> to growing beards to talking about sports. This cycle, they\u2019ve redoubled their efforts to find authentically local candidates \u2014 and in some races, those candidates have emerged and caught lightning as they challenge status-quo Democratic candidates. Many are leaning hard into local culture signals.<\/p>\n

Sand has hunting. Maine\u2019s Senate candidate Graham Platner has his oystering and his Second Amendment creds. Texas\u2019 Bobby Pulido has his guitar; James Talarico has the Good Book. Alaska\u2019s Mary Peltola has fish. Democratic candidates who can win in tough places often get national buzz. And Sand happens to be from a state that \u2014 at least for now \u2014 still plays an outsized role in the presidential process. Could Sand be a surprise 2028 contender?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Rob wins, he will instantly be part of that conversation,\u201d said Tommy Vietor, President Barack Obama\u2019s former Iowa press secretary and a host of Pod Save America.<\/p>\n

Sand is running as a hunting-loving, churchgoing, Casey\u2019s gas station pizza-loving<\/u><\/a> state auditor who has spent the past five years positioning himself as a fiscally responsible friend to the Iowa taxpayer.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been little public polling of the race; the only public survey, released back in October<\/u><\/a>, found Sand beating GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra by two points, 45 percent to 43 percent. But national operatives in both parties see it as one of a handful of governor\u2019s races that could flip. Sand is unopposed in the state\u2019s June 2 primary, though five Republicans will be on the ballot for their party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n

He entered the show room at the EMC Expo Center after attending a chapel service for expo-goers where he quietly scrolled a Contemporary English Version of the Bible on his phone, listening dutifully to the sermon about Jesus\u2019 feeding of the 5,000. \u201cWhat sort of kingdom work is He asking you to do?\u201d the pastor asked<\/p>\n

And what does Sand see as his kingdom work? \u201cTalking about the evils of the two-choice system and trying to break down a system that inherently divides us and leads our leaders into the temptation of being lazy, and leads our leaders into the temptation of lying, bearing false witness against their opponents, because they know that they don\u2019t actually have to solve our problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to get reelected, all they got to do is convince us that they\u2019re the lesser of two evils,\u201d Sand continued. \u201cAnd they win because we only have two realistic options on the ballot \u2014 and that entire system, to me, is just such a temptation to not serve people, to not do good, to actively lie, to spread false information.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019d be forgiven if you forgot Sand was running as a Democrat. That, of course, is part of the point of his campaign. Sometimes to salvage the Democratic brand in a red state you have to first savage it.<\/p>\n

\"Rob<\/p>\n

But Republicans will be sure to remind voters a few times between now and November.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t really had to take very many positions,\u201d said David Kochel, a longtime Iowa Republican operative who has guided multiple presidential campaigns. \u201dHe\u2019s going to be forced at some point to either disavow the Democratic Party platform, which is going to piss off progressives, or he\u2019s going to have to accept the label of being a Democrat in Iowa and defend it. And it\u2019s gonna be hard for him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans will paint some images of Sand of their own. As much as he would like to cut the figure of a rugged outdoorsman, they say, he also spent some time in college modeling in Milan and Paris \u2014 photos that may well pop up<\/u><\/a> in GOP ads. \u201cI mean, it was a part-time job I had in college,\u201d Sand said. \u201cCatching chickens was my first one.\u201d Catching chickens? \u201cCastrated male chickens,\u201d he clarifies.<\/p>\n

There is also the matter of his election financing: His wealthy in-laws have dumped $7 million<\/u><\/a> into his campaign. \u201cHardworking Iowans know the value of a dollar, and don\u2019t have the luxury of having a silver spoon feeding them their career,\u201d Iowa Republican Chairman Jeff Kaufmann <\/u><\/a>said in a statement.<\/u><\/p>\n

Iowa Republicans are taking Sand\u2019s candidacy seriously. In an interview, Bob Vander Plaats, the influential West Des Moines evangelical leader, called Sand \u201cdangerous\u201d and the \u201cbest candidate\u201d Democrats could run.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s trying to come off as a more folksy, more accomplished Tim Walz. \u2018I go to church every Sunday. I hunt. I\u2019m the taxpayers\u2019 watchdog. I\u2019m gonna hit all the Republican talking points, basically, that I can,\u2019\u201d Vander Plaats said before stressing that Sand \u201cwould be way outside of where Iowans are.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Republican side, Vander Plaats endorsed Adam Steen over Rep. Randy Feenstra, the GOP establishment pick and primary frontrunner. \u201cI just haven\u2019t been impressed with Randy\u2019s campaign. I don\u2019t think he has the campaign to win a general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sand practices a judge-not-lest-ye-be-judge approach with would-be voters. When he was speaking to the man wearing a \u201cCrossbows Are Gay\u201d shirt, Sand didn\u2019t bat an eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what that shirt says, but I\u2019m not going to assume that he literally is anti-homosexual because his T-shirt says that,\u201d Sand said. \u201cI\u2019m not a believer that lecturing people is an effective way to get them to not do a thing. Now, I\u2019m open about my support for gay marriage, for the gay community. He\u2019s probably seen me say that. \u2026 And he\u2019s not going to hear me back away from that. So to me, there\u2019s probably room for someone to wear a shirt that they mean as a joke they don\u2019t actually mean to be negative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sand didn\u2019t win the Big Buck contest he\u2019d entered. But as he took selfies with the men who had beat him, an onlooker from Exira named Jeremy brought up a possible consolation prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the next governor of Iowa!\u201d he told Sand.<\/p>\n

As the day wrapped, the lanky state auditor pulled his buck head down off the wall and, carrying it by an antler, walked out of the convention center \u2014 its taxidermied eyes fixed in a frozen stare at Sand\u2019s potential new voters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DES MOINES \u2014 Rob Sand got a hero\u2019s welcome at a state deer hunting expo at the Iowa Events Center on a recent March weekend. The state\u2019s lone Democratic statewide elected official, and Democrats\u2019 hope for flipping the governor\u2019s mansion for the first time in 16 years, could barely make it through the Sunday morning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}