Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand greets members of the audience during a campaign visit to the Cass County Community Center in Cass, Iowa, on August 20, 2026. | Leon Neal/Getty Images Can a love-thy-neighbor, stop-the-division campaign win over masses of rural voters? Rob Sand, the Democratic candidate for governor in Iowa, has his hopes pinned on it.  Key to Sand’s campaign is a promise to end the red-blue warfare in politics. He’s made embracing independents and disgruntled Republicans a core part of his campaign, in addition to ending government corruption, holding big a...