Iowa’s 2026 governor’s race is now considered a toss-up, and the lone Democratic candidate pulled back the curtain on his plans to legalize adult-use cannabis and regulate cannabinoid hemp products.
Rob Sand, who has served as Iowa’s state auditor since 2019 – he was the only Democrat to win a statewide election race in 2022 – released the details of his plan to legalize, tax and regulate adult-use cannabis similar to alcohol on April 20, an international cannabis holiday.
The announcement comes as Iowa’s Republican-controlled government faces a “budget crisis,” he said.
“I’ve been sounding the alarm for years: Iowa is staring down a nearly $1.4 billion budget hole, and insiders won’t stop digging,” Sand said on Monday. “One common-sense way to help close that gap is to legalize adult-use cannabis and tax and regulate it like alcohol.
“Right now, Iowans are driving across state lines – and taking their tax dollars with them – to make these purchases. That’s revenue we’re losing that should be staying right here in Iowa. And we shouldn’t be using our tax dollars to lock people up for three hots and a cot for using cannabis in 2026. That’s why I’m announcing my plan to legalize, tax and regulate adult-use cannabis – so we can keep those dollars in Iowa, support our farmers and start getting our budget back on track.”
While Iowa is one of 42 states with a medical cannabis program, that program remains one of the strictest in the nation, prohibiting flower products, banning home grows and limiting patients to 4.5 grams of THC every 90 days (50 milligrams per day).
For those not in Iowa’s medical program, possessing any amount of cannabis is criminalized and carries the possibility of six months in prison for the first offense.
Under Sand’s plan, the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Division would expand to include cannabis experts who would regulate the cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and sale of cannabis in a licensed commercial marketplace, allowing those 21 years and older to access products containing no more than 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 100 milligrams per package.
Cannabis flower would be allowed, but smoking in public places would be prohibited.
Sand estimates that cannabis legalization would create roughly 7,000 jobs in the Hawkeye State.
“Iowa taxpayers are spending their money in Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota when that money could be kept right here at home to help boost Iowa’s economy and increase state revenue,” according to his campaign. “Rob’s plan would bring those dollars back home while creating thousands of jobs, expanding entrepreneurship and investment opportunities for Iowans and Iowa small businesses, and supporting Iowa farmers.”
While a Democratic candidate’s legalization vision often doesn’t hold much weight in a Republican stronghold like Iowa, whose most recent Democratic governor, Chet Culver, lost his reelection bid in 2010, the 2026 race is anticipated to be tighter than previously expected.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report indicated a momentum swing in favor of Sand, shifting the 2026 race from “leans Republican” to a “toss-up” barnburner on April 9.
“Internal polls from sources in both parties now show Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand with a lead over his expected Republican opponent, Rep. Randy Feenstra,” according to the Cook Political Report. “Sand’s enormous cash stockpile – he sits on $13.2 million to Feenstra’s $3.2 million on hand – ensures that he’ll be able to plaster his populist message on the airwaves all the way to Election Day, and national GOP operatives acknowledge they’ll have to spend heavily in Iowa to stay in the hunt.”
The 2026 winner will replace incumbent Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who announced last year that she wouldn’t seek a third term.
Sand used his April 20 announcement to take a swing at Reynolds’ hemp policy, indicating that, if elected in November, he’ll work to reverse the state’s prohibition on consumable hemp product sales.
“In 2024, Gov. Reynolds signed HF 2605 into law, despite the harm and confusion it caused small businesses across the state,” according to Sand’s campaign. “We should reverse that law to allow sales of hemp and THC beverage products while ensuring oversight and regulation over those products by hemp producers selling their products through cannabis retailers.”
Sand also said his adult-use legalization plan would prioritize small and mid-size family farms for cultivation licenses, calling them the “backbone of Iowa’s economy.”
To set up safeguards, his plan also calls for regulating cannabis product packaging to meet child-resistant standards, while also forbidding images that appeal to children and requiring labeling that warns of potential risks. Cannabis businesses could not use advertisements targeted toward minors and could not display any use of cannabis.
With Republicans holding strong majorities in Iowa’s House and Senate that don’t appear to be relinquished any time soon, Sand, if elected, would likely need to work across party lines to see his legalization plans through.
Although no Republican-controlled state legislature has legalized adult-use cannabis, Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear succeeded in twisting the arm of the Bluegrass State’s Republican-controlled Legislature to legalize medical cannabis in 2023 via the pressure of an executive order’s preemptive pardons for low-level cannabis offenses.
