IA-GOV: Sand (D) leads governor's race fundraising
In the race for governor, Democrat Rob Sand, Iowa state auditor, reported raising more than $9.5 million in 2025, according to state reports for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Candidates were required to file their fundraising totals for the previous year, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025 by Jan. 20.
While the Democrat faced criticism for receiving $7 million in donations from his wife and her family in 2024, these family members did not donate in 2025. The most recent reported $9.5 million came from roughly 117,000 individual donations. These included many small contributions, as well as some high-profile large donors such as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential candidate who donated $50,000 to Sand’s campaign; Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder who gave $250,000, and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell who contributed $200,000.
That fundraising combined with 2024 contributions puts Sand at a total of roughly $18 million heading into the 2026 election season, surpassing other gubernatorial candidates on both sides of the aisle.
“Rob Sand didn’t just outraise every candidate in this race — he outraised all of them combined,” Sand’s campaign manager Kyle Buda said in a statement on the fundraising totals. “Iowans across the state and the political spectrum are rallying behind Rob Sand in record numbers because they’re ready to turn the page on ten years of one-party control that has left them behind and made their problems worse.”
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/01/23/see-whos-leading-campaign-fundraising-for-iowa-statewide-races/