# Iowa Governor race 2026

Open seat. Businessman Zach Lahn (R) trails state Auditor Rob Sand (D) in Cook's poll for the seat Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) is leaving.

- Office: Governor
- Rating: Lean Democrat (Cook Political Report, Oct 13, 2026)
- Sabato's Crystal Ball: Leans Democratic
- Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/election/ia-governor/
- Back to [Election Headquarters](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/election/)

## Who is running

- Zach Lahn (Republican): open seat
- Rob Sand (Democrat): open seat

## The facts

- Reynolds, a Republican, chose not to run again. (Wikipedia)
- Lahn won the June 2 Republican nomination in what Wikipedia calls a major upset. (Wikipedia)
- Sand is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in Iowa. (Wikipedia)
- A Cook Political Report poll, Oct. 9-13, 2026, of 602 likely Iowa voters (margin of error 4 points; run by Democratic firm New River Strategies and Republican firm GS Strategy Group), found Sand ahead 54% to 43%. (Cook Political Report)

## Worth knowing about this race

Cook's poll found Sand ahead by 11 points, a wider gap than in the Senate race in the same state.

## Why this race matters to conservatives (opinion)

Cook's poll shows the Republican behind. Turnout will decide it.

This section is the opinion of RightNewsRightNow. The rest of the page is reporting.

## Where these facts come from

- [Cook Political Report](https://www.270towin.com/2026-governor-election/cook-political-report-2026-governor): current rating, as of Oct 13, 2026
- [Wikipedia (election pages, with their cited sources)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_gubernatorial_elections): candidate and race facts