Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch Iowa Auditor Rob Sand and his gubernatorial campaign staff brought multiple boxes containing binders of petition signatures to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office March 9, 2026, submitting paperwork qualifying his Iowa gubernatorial campaign for the 2026 ballot.

Two of the best-known candidates in Iowa’s gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra and Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, submitted their petition signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot Monday.

The deadline for this paperwork, a requirement for candidates running for state and federal office in Iowa to qualify for the June 2 primary, is on Friday, March 13. As this date nears, gubernatorial candidates are heading to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office to submit signatures from at least 3,500 Iowans supporting their campaign — including 100 signatures from at least 19 different counties.

In the lead-up to the primary, Feenstra and Sand have emerged as the best-funded candidates for in the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries respectively. Alongside Sand, two other candidates have announced their bids to become the Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee — Julie Stauch, a longtime Democratic political operative, and Paul Dahl, a Webster City man who has previously ran for governor and Congress. Neither candidate has submitted their campaign filings as of March 6, according to Secretary of State’s office.

While he faces challengers, Sand has maintained an overwhelming lead in campaign fundraising. He’s also drawn attention from national political forecasters for being a potentially strong candidate who could shift the Iowa governor’s seat to Democratic control for the first time since former Gov. Chet Culver lost the 2010 election to former Gov. Terry Branstad.

Sand, campaign staff and supporters brought in eight boxes of binders full of signatures to the Secretary of State’s office Monday, containing 24,756 signatures, according to his campaign. This amount is above the previous record of submitted petition signatures submitted in a gubernatorial election set by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2022 at 16,000, and the all-time record set by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst at nearly 24,000 in 2020.

The Democratic candidate told reporters Wednesday that in addition to setting a new record for the number of signatures submitted, “over one in five of these signatures come from people who are not Democrats — they’re independents, they’re Republicans, they’re interested in a new direction for the state of Iowa.”

He said the signatures were a sign of his campaign’s strength across the state — including in both rural and urban areas.

“In fact, we are very close to 100 signatures in all 99 counties for this,” Sand said. “So that we’re showing not just strength in heavily populated areas, but no matter where you live in the state of Iowa, you’ve got neighbors that signed to help us get on the ballot here.”

While Feenstra also has a fundraising lead and enters the race with more name recognition when compared to other GOP gubernatorial candidates, he faces a larger — and potentially more contentious — primary election.

Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews, former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, a businessman who has worked for Americans for Prosperity and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman are also competing to become the nominee. The other GOP candidates have criticized Feenstra for not attending multi-candidate forums and debates, instead largely choosing to hold his own campaign events.

Some Republicans have expressed concerns about Feenstra’s campaign potentially not reaching enough voters. But as he submitted paperwork Monday — providing 7,500 signatures, more than double the number necessary — Feenstra told reporters his campaign is dedicated to showing Iowa voters his vision for the state’s future.

“Every day we’re on the campaign trail, hitting every Pizza Ranch,” Feenstra said. “We have meet and greets all over the state, every day — I think we’ve done 80, 85 stops now. But it’s listening to people, listening to to Iowans, making sure that I’m earning every single vote, and then also telling them this great vision of where we want to take the state — to take this state to new heights. Making sure that we are the most business and ag-friendly state in the country, making sure we lower property taxes, (making) sure that we have a world class education and making sure that our kids stay right here in Iowa, and finally, having that affordable, accessible health care for everyone.”

Sherman submitted his petition to qualify for the primary ballot March 2. Steen plans to file for the race on Wednesday, according to a news release; Lahn and Andrews did not respond to requests for information on their plans to file.

Candidates comment on campaign ads

While both candidates have yet to become their party’s nominees for governor, Feenstra has put out campaign ads targeting Sand. One ad released earlier in March titled “Stand,” which claims Sand would not have stood in support when President Donald Trump said at the State of the Union, “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

Several Democrats in attendance did not stand in support of the president’s comment. The ad states Sand is “just another Democrat politician who does the same.”

But Sand’s campaign said the ad was a “blatant lie.” Following the State of the Union, Sand appeared on WHO AM Simon Conway Show, where he was asked directly if he would have stood in support of the statement.

“I would have stood up and I would’ve applauded,” Sand said on the Feb. 26 episode. “I think that’s pretty basic.”

Conway, a conservative commentator, said in a Wednesday episode the ad was “a terrible look.”

“The insinuation is that Rob Sand would have sat down,” Conway said. “The answer is six days ago he could not have been clearer. … He’d have stood up. I don’t care if you like Rob Sand, I don’t care if you like Randy Feenstra. I don’t care. It doesn’t make any difference to the thing we are talking about right now. We need to be better.”

Feenstra said his seven-figure ad buy, which included the “Stand” video, was a means to establish “who I am, what I stand for, and what Iowa’s going to look like when I become governor.” The ad targeting Sand “ensures that Iowans learn who the real Rob Sand is,” according to a campaign release.

“Well, he has said it himself, that he is an extreme liberal, all right, so we hold him for his word,” Feenstra told reporters. “And we know that if he becomes governor, he would take this state and make it look like California or Minnesota or Illinois. We can’t have that.”

Asked about the ad Monday, Sand said Feenstra “should revisit the ninth commandment, ‘Thou shall not bear false witness.'” The Democrat said Feenstra has “a different race he’s going to have to win first,” referencing the GOP gubernatorial primary — but said he believes his campaign will be able to win against any Republican nominee.

“And I think at the end of the day, whoever it is that comes out on the other side is going to be someone who’s continuing the direction that Kim Reynolds has been putting the state on, and I think most Iowans most Iowans are more interested in a new direction,” Sand said.