Red State, Blue Governor: It Could Happen in Iowa. Would It Matter?

[RandySF]

With President Trump’s approval ratings languishing and Democratic candidates polling well, Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor, could become the state’s first Democratic governor in 16 years after November’s election.

Yet as governor, Mr. Sand would be unable to block Republican priorities if the G.O.P. wins a supermajority in the state legislature. Republicans would have the numbers to override any of his vetoes, as Govs. Laura Kelly of Kansas and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, both Democratic leaders in Republican states, know all too well.

So Democrats are leaning on a handful of moderate newcomers — bolstered by outside money — to flip several districts in November, and influence the balance of power in a state that has gone from consummate battleground to ruby red over the past decade.

Among them, Jill Alesch, a veteran and former prosecutor, is vying for an open State House seat in suburban Des Moines. Mike Tupper, a retired police chief and former Republican, is seeking to oust a first-term State House Republican in Marshalltown, a small blue-collar city.




https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/us/politics/republican-supermajority-iowa-ohio.html