Iowa picks a Democrat for governor

With long-time Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds wrapping up nearly a full decade in office, the Midwest state was primed for new leadership. On the ballot, Republican Zach Lahn faced off against Democrat Rob Sand to see who would lead the state, and the results are in.Lahn, a businessman and farmer, co-founded an investment firm called Homeplace Ventures, as well as a private school in Wichita, Kansas, called Wonder. Sand has served as the state auditor of Iowa since 2018. Before that, he was a chief prosecutor with an emphasis on public corruption cases.'Fifteen years of work essentially goes down the drain in one election.'Leading up to election night on Tuesday, the Iowa governor race appeared to be slipping away from Republican control. According to Blaze News Poll Watch, Sand led Lahn with more than half of voter support.Even worse, Sand's victory trajectory had been on a slow-but-steady climb since August, while Lahn's prospects slid downward. That's why it comes as no surprise that Sand clinched the governor's seat on election night. Sand is the first Democrat to be elected Iowa governor since 2006.Although Iowa has morphed into a red state since electing President Donald Trump in 2016, political change is common when it comes to the Iowa governorship, often rotating between Republicans and Democrats every several decades.RELATED: WATCH LIVE: 2026 midterm election results — Nick Freitas, John Doyle, Steve Deace, Glenn Beck Blaze MediaIowa resident and BlazeTV host Steve Deace has followed this race closely."Fifteen years of work essentially goes down the drain in one election. I assume that we're gonna find out just how many multicolored-hair trannies truly live in the state of Iowa, 'cause they're all gonna be running agencies there in January and acting like the last 15 years never happened," Deace said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!