WOW: Republicans Suddenly FALL APART in DEEP RED IOWA

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on the declining popularity of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the state's poor economic performance under Republican leadership, highlighting how Iowans are increasingly recognizing the need for accountability and change. The unexpected success of state auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, indicates a potential shift in political dynamics, as he gains traction despite the state's prolonged Republican dominance.

Key takeaways

• Kim Reynolds' popularity dips while Iowa's economy sinks, proving that flowers and sunshine don't pay the bills.
• Iowa ranks near the bottom in economic growth, highlighting the disconnect between rhetoric and reality in governance.
• Enter Rob Sand: a Democrat who's not afraid to challenge GOP incumbents, representing a potential shift in Iowa.
• Despite scrutiny, current Iowa leadership focuses on limiting accountability rather than fixing the economy. Priorities, anyone?
• Iowa's state auditor proves that sometimes accountability is the strongest political weapon—watch out, incumbents!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Fred Wellman (Host) · 9 min speaking
• Rob Sand (Guest) · 6 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Kim Reynolds, Missouri, Rob Sand, Fred Wellman
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Missouri, Christ Jesus
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Missouri
4. 12:00 – 14:42: Rob Sand, Fred Wellman, On Democracy

Notable quotes from "WOW: Republicans Suddenly FALL APART in DEEP RED IOWA"

• If you know this, but Iowa has been governed by Republicans by 10 years like me here in Missouri. They've had single party rule all over the state except one office, which is…

  about Missouri · at 0:30

• Democrat two times in a row now. and he's pretty darn popular. And you probably have seen his ads because Rob Sand started his career in the service a while ago. He's a native…

  about Rob Sand · at 1:22

• Kim Reynolds, I I always laughed about her because, she always had like the MAGA sequin jackets and it's almost a little comical sometimes. and now you've got a you got a crowded.

  about Kim Reynolds · at 2:13

• And let's talk about that. I just this morning CNN had a new poll showing it's the economy, stupid. I hate to give James Carville more love than he deserves, but it is the.

  about CNN · at 4:02

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Rob Sand — Person · Main guest · 4 mentions · first at 1:25
  Interview subject and Democratic candidate for Iowa governor; discusses accountability, economy, education vouchers, and rural health care from the perspective of the sitting State Auditor.
• Fred Wellman — Person · Host / interviewer · 2 mentions · first at 1:57
  Hosts the segment and interviews Rob Sand, framing the discussion around Iowa politics, accountability, and economic conditions; provides commentary and prompts.
  People, right? So, I'm a big fan of Rob Sand. I finally got him to come into the hot seat. So, let's get on. I'm Fred Wellman, host of On Democracy with FP1 right here in the…
• Kim Reynolds — Person · Referenced political opponent / incumbent governor · 3 mentions · first at 0:12
  Serves as the main foil for the episode’s critique of Iowa’s Republican governance; discussed in relation to restricting the auditor’s powers and broader state performance claims.
• Christ Jesus — Person · Referenced religious figure (illustrative analogy) · 1 mention · first at 3:47
  Invoked by Rob Sand as a moral analogy (money changers in the temple) to frame government accountability and abuse of power as an ethical issue.
  How can we stop him? Like and to your point about my faith, like this always makes me think of that story of Jesus flipping over the tables of the money changers are the temple.

Companies & orgs

• CNN — Company · Referenced source · 2 mentions
  Mentioned as the source of a poll regarding the economy, adding context to the discussion on economic perceptions.

Places & events

• Missouri — Place · Setting · 5 mentions · first at 0:31
  Mentioned as a comparison to Iowa's political and economic situation, highlighting similarities in governance.

Media & podcasts

• On Democracy — Media · Host's show · 2 mentions · first at 1:57
  The podcast or show where the discussion is taking place, hosted by Fred Wellman.
  People, right? So, I'm a big fan of Rob Sand. I finally got him to come into the hot seat. So, let's get on. I'm Fred Wellman, host of On Democracy with FP1 right here in the…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 In 2023, did you sign a bill to gut the state auditor's ability to hold you and the state government accountable? Yes or no?

0:07 A bill was signed to restrict the to that is a yes. Yes. That brief clip is Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the current governor of Iowa and and it kind of symbolizes the whole Kim Reynolds regime of the Iowa. Okay. So, which she's currently on her farewell tour, right? So, she's been going around the state and the country talk about how awesome her time in office has been. You know, I don't know if you know this, but Iowa has been governed by Republicans by 10 years like me here in Missouri. They've had single party rule all over the state except one office, which is key. And the Kim Reynolds wants you to believe that it's been freaking flowers and roses and and golden and sunshine. But the fact is that Kim Reynolds herself is the most unpopular governor in the country for seven quarters in a row now. Iowa's economy is ranked 49th in the country.

0:54 It's the 48th for personal income growth, number one for cancer growth. It's 50th for economic growth. But you wouldn't believe that when you hear the Republicans of Iowa tell you that story. But that is the truth of so much right now. But here's the good news. Like my home state of Missouri, people like to write us off, right? Let's face. Oh, it's it's Midwest. There's no chance of change. But here's the golden thing about Iowa right now. They've been electing a state auditor who's a Democrat two times in a row now. and he's pretty darn popular. And you probably have seen his ads because Rob Sand started his career in the service a while ago. He's a native son of Iowa. He grew up rural, but he started off as an assistant Iowa attorney general and the Iowa's chief public corruption prosecutor. So, he's got some chops. And on top of that, now he's been the elected auditor in a state ruled by the

1:42 other party for eight years now. Going. And so, he now he just announced he's running for well, now last year he announced he's running for governor. And he's taken off, y'all. So, I've been pretty excited. I'm a fan. You guys know I do this because I get to meet cool people, right? So, I'm a big fan of Rob Sand. I finally got him to come into the hot seat. So, let's get on. I'm Fred Wellman, host of On Democracy with FP1 right here in the Mas touch. This is in the hot seat with Rob Sand. Let's bring him on.

2:08 Rob man. Hey, welcome to my Touch Talk. How are you, sir? Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

2:13 You know, Kim Reynolds, you know, I I I I always laughed about her because, you know, she always had like the MAGA sequin jackets and I mean, it's almost a little comical sometimes. you know, and and now you've got a you got a crowded field on the Republican side. They can't decide what direction they want to go. But it is it is like Missouri. I remember when you started running, I was like, "Oh, okay. Here's one of my people, a Democrat who stands by his values. You've never you don't try to be Republican light, right? You you are who you are. Um you're a, you know, good good man of Iowa. You're rural. You're a Christian. You know, you you are who you are and you're stepping up to run for statewide office and you're doing pretty well. I mean, I guess the big question is why are you running for governor of Iowa right now?

2:53 Uh, you know, that that clip you you sort of said it right in your uh in your start there and our launch video last May uh kind of did numbers on social media for the same reason. It's just me talking to the camera for a minute saying, you know, here we are. We are 50th for economic growth. Our average for personal income growth for the last three years is 48th. We're number one for cancer growth. And then in the Capitol building in De Moine, they're figuring out, hey, how can we take the power away from the state auditor's office to hold us accountable when we're misspending money? Like I just you are doing such a terrible job and yet your focus where you're putting your time isn't into improving the lives of Ians.

3:32 It's not into growing the economy or fighting on rising costs or improving health care. It's literally like, hey, that that state auditor is doing too good of a job of holding us accountable. How can we stop him? Like and and to to your point about my faith, like this always makes me think of that story of Jesus flipping over the tables of the money changers are the temple.

3:52 People in a position of trust and power who are abusing that trust and power to further their own ends. They don't care about the people they're supposed to serve. I've had enough. And I think most Ians have, too.

4:02 And let's talk about that. I just this morning CNN had a new poll showing it's the economy, stupid. I mean, I I hate to give James Carville more love than he deserves, but you know, it is the economy. 54% of Americans believe the economy is in trouble. Uh you independents 34% of independents believe the economy is not going the right direction. You know, you're number one a priority. I've seen everywhere every time I've seen you open your mouth just now again is we got to grow the economy of Iowa. There's so much potential. Iowa is a great state like Missouri, you know, I mean, how do how are you going to grow that economy? How is that I know it's your number one choice. That's what you're hearing on the road, isn't it?

4:37 It's it's it is really the economy. People can't afford, can they? Yeah. that in education. I mean, Iowa had one of those uh school vouchers bills passed and and and honestly, Fred, the lack of accountability in that program is astonishing.

4:49 Uh private schools now can take public money while rejecting any particular member of the public that they don't want to have in their schools. And there's only one thing on God's green earth that they can't do with the money. They can't pay a rebate. That's it. So, anything else they want to do, they want to buy booze, they want to fly to France, whatever, that would be fine for a private school to do with public money in the state of Iowa. So, that was we did 100 public town halls last year, opened up the doors, everybody was welcome. 30% of the people coming in weren't Democrats. That was the number one issue that we had questions about. But when it comes to economic growth, I mean, there's a couple of pretty simple things to do here. Uh, we haven't raised our minimum wage forever. We should raise the minimum wage. Um, we are still looking at people who uh use marijuana and saying we want to throw you in prison

5:38 for doing that. We should treat it the way we treat alcohol. Uh, that would give our economy a very good boost and our state budget a good boost which helps because we have a $1.2 billion budget deficit right now. Absolutely. Brokers. Yeah. Wow. And and for for a sense of scale, I mean the annual state budget is about nine billion. So, it's a huge piece of the budget right now.

6:00 So, that that would help our economy. Uh those those things would help our economy and we haven't been friendly to workers for the last 10 years. I mean, it's been 10 years of one party control and pretty much every opportunity that the legislator's had, they've made it harder for working people in the state of Iowa.

6:14 Yeah. And and that's the thing, right? They're cutting taxes. I saw I think I think Kim RS was touting that Iowa's number one in cutting taxes. Great. But you've got a $1.2 billion hole in your budget. Like, okay. like like you're gonna cut your way to success, right? It's it's the constant Republican story. We hear it in Missouri, too. It's like, "Oh, we're just going to keep cutting." And and that's not how it works. No business on earth. Yeah. Right. You know, no business on earth people in the state uh pay a lot less in taxes and we promise that someday you'll get some of that money too.

6:45 Right. Right. As the rich get richer. And that does go back I want to circle back to public education. It's a passion project for me. I'm a pro I'm a product of public schools. you are too, you know, of your Iowa school. I mean, it public schools are the basis of an economy. I It goes right into it. Private schools are not the basis for our economy. It's not putting money. It It is truly a public school thing. And how can you seize that back? How can you seize the initiative of public schools again?

7:09 Well, I I think a piece of this is talking about this program and just how unaccountable it is. And I'm also Fred, I'm I'm I'm big on honesty. Um, in fact, my favorite interaction in this entire campaign was a guy came up to me at the state fair last year. uh from Knoxville, Iowa said, "I'm from Knoxville. I'm a farmer in Marian County and I'm a Republican, but I'm going to vote for you because you're dumb enough to be honest."

7:34 I love that. I'll take it. And so I when I talk to people about education, I remind them, look, we got Republican majorities in the Iowa legislature. They're big majorities.

7:48 Yeah. If I get elected, I'm going to be working with those Republican majorities. So I don't run around saying we're going to this and we're going to that because I'm not going to give people a wish list of things that I don't think practically speaking I can deliver on. I'm going to level with everybody. What I want to do with this program is get us to the point where we have real accountability in it. And I want to make an argument that I think can appeal to everybody in this state who has their head screwed on straight and so that the people who are in the legislature can go, "Okay, fair enough.

8:12 We you're right. Those are reasonable things. We should have income limits. When we have a $1.2 2 billion budget deficit, we shouldn't be giving private school tuition to the wealthiest families in the state of Iowa. That doesn't make any sense,

8:26 right? If you want to have this for poorest kids to actually promote school choice, that's a different question. Number two, it shouldn't be that private schools can just hike their tuition up by another $7,500, leaving it equally as unaffordable as it was before

8:40 for the rest of us. Right. Right. Right. And then we have to have accountability. If something is going to get you in trouble as a public school, if you spend money on it, the same thing should apply to any public dollars getting spent by a private school.

8:52 Yeah, those are things that I think the vast majority of Ians can agree upon that we could, if I win this race, the Republican legislature would be hardressed to find some reason to oppose those things,

9:02 right? Then we'll have a different conversation about where we go from there. But I think they'd be smart enough to go, "Yeah, okay. All right. That's those are fair points. We didn't think about them." They can say that if they need to. Oh, we didn't think about that when we passed the bill. But yeah, we should make that adjustment.

9:15 I love it. Now, we talked, you mentioned briefly, you know, number I said it too. Number one for cancer growth number one. I mean, it sounds like, you know, you've got a very rural state like my state. Um, there's a there's a healthcare crisis. I I'm hearing health care and we know that nationally we have a healthcare crisis. ACA's subs being stopped. Medicaid's under attack. That's the state level. I mean, you know, you've said very clearly in your in your priorities that you want to Ians live better lives, healthier lives, and that starts with a health care network that works, doesn't it?

9:44 Yeah. I mean, we're we're seeing a dwindling number of counties in the state of Iowa where you can deliver a baby. Uh there are vast stretches of the state where there's no one uh who's uh an obstatrician. Um and then we look at the big beautiful bill. uh and uh the folks who voted for it like to run around and say, "We added $50 billion in spending for rural hospitals." It's like, "Okay, I'm the auditor. You actually cut 180 billion." So when you added the 50, you're still at a net you cut $130 billion for rural hospitals.

10:17 But they just I just Fred, these people run around like the ninth commandment doesn't exist,

10:23 right? They're just willing to say things that are obviously misleading and lies because they are desperate to win and they think for some reason that those rules that were laid out that long ago that they're in the Bible for some reason they think they don't apply to politicians,

10:37 right? And they're going to tell you, well, it's just it's just it's just a different angle on it. You know, you know, and you and I know and you and I know,

10:44 well, if your spin is basically completely misleading to people, maybe you shouldn't vote for the bill so that you could just be honest with people about it. One of the things I want to do, Fred, is I want to require annual town halls for people who are elected to office. Wow.

10:57 I have always since 2019, my first year after getting sworn in after I won in 2018, I've been 100 public town halls every single year. Every county seat in the state of Iowa.

11:07 Wow. I believe that people who are elected to federal office and to legislative seats, send to statewide office, will actually do fewer obviously bad things if they know I'm going to have to go do town halls where I told people two weeks in advance date time location and because I I'm going to have to go face these people, I'm not going to vote for this because it is really bad and they'll be bad mad at me. And when I see their tears, I will then feel bad about myself and I don't want to do that. Right? Like we should require that. That should be this is the performance review. Most people have to do it in their job. Sit down with your boss and have them tell you how you're doing well and how you're not. I'd do that.

11:47 Everybody should have to do that. It should be a requirement. If you don't want to do that, then don't run. That's fine. This isn't the job for you.

11:54 I love it. It's called representation, right? And and it it does feel like so many of our elected officials, they get elected, they don't want to be they don't they forget who actually elected them. And and and and I say a lot, and I know you say, I'm sure you say it a lot, is I'm supposed to represent everybody in the state, right? The job you're running for and the job you've had, by the way, since 2019, represents. It's not partisan. It's not party. It's not rich or poor. It's the the constitution. I'm sure your state constitution is very clear what your job is. It isn't will represent the Democratic party or represent the Republican party.

12:22 Thank you. Like our I mean our campaign slogan uh the tagline is governor for all. But the campaign slogan, Fred, is not redder or bluer, but better and truer. I mean, I'm I'm sick of the partisanship. I can't stand the two choice system. I think people should have more options on their ballot. Uh but a big piece of this is is recognizing that solving problems like a mental health crisis or an education crisis or an economic crisis or a water quality crisis, they're complicated. There are some simple fixes, but a lot of it is in the details. And boy, learning is hard and and getting people around a table and getting them to agree on a thing is hard. But the system the system tells all these candidates and elected officials, hey, as long as you can convince everybody you're the lesser of two evils, then you can get reelected anyway and you don't have to worry about solving problems.

13:08 Yep. Yeah. And Yep. And when you got a good majority, you don't worry about appealing to the the opposite party at all. You can just run against fellow people in your same party like they are right now. Well, Rob, I I could go this conversation all day, but we're supposed to keep them short. Uh, most important question I ask every candidate joins in the hot seat and on democracy. Where can the minus mighty find you? Where can they kick in a couple of bucks? Where can they help you win this seat?

13:30 Thanks, Brad. Robsand.com. Easy enough. R O B S N D. Can you be located right behind you? Super easy name. I'm jealous, you know. But it was great talking to you, Rod. Thanks for taking time for us. Good luck up there. I'll be watching because I just down just down the road. So if you ever need anything, I'm right right down here in St. Louis. I'm happy to help in any way. Keep up the good fight, brother. We really appreciate your time.

13:51 Appreciate that. Thanks for joining us. Man, what a great conversation. Uh, you know, Rob is I've been I've been watching this camp launch because actually I'm in the neighboring state right down the road, right? And it is so important. Uh, when you see a candidate like Rob who's won statewide office in a red state, that tells a lot about who they are and what they stand for. And those are the candidates we want. Remember, we want candidates who can win in the district or the state or the part of the country they're running in. Rob Sand's got all of that. So again, I'm Fred Wel. This is in the hot seat with FP Woman right here on the touch network. These are periodic shows. We'll be doing a lot more of them when we get closer to the election. Of course, we have Andoxy with FP Woman every Friday night at 7 PM Eastern right here on the Myers Touch Network going live every week. I hope you'll watch it because we

14:34 love having you come in. In the meantime, keep up the fight because you know what folks, we're not done yet. Thanks for joining us.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "WOW: Republicans Suddenly FALL APART in DEEP RED IOWA"?

Fred Wellman (Host), Rob Sand (Guest).

What is "WOW: Republicans Suddenly FALL APART in DEEP RED IOWA" about?

The discussion focuses on the declining popularity of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the state's poor economic performance under Republican leadership, highlighting how Iowans are increasingly recognizing the need for accountability and change. The unexpected success of state auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, indicates a potential shift in political dynamics, as he gains traction despite the state's…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Rob Sand, Fred Wellman, Kim Reynolds, On Democracy, Missouri, CNN. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "WOW: Republicans Suddenly FALL APART in DEEP RED IOWA"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 3,339 words in 39 timestamped sections.

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