Democrat Rob Sand will run for Iowa auditor in 2018

A former prosecutor in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office will run for state auditor in 2018.

Rob Sand, a Democrat, announced his candidacy Monday in Decorah, pledging to ramp up the office’s role as a taxpayers’ watchdog by adding full-time financial investigators and creating a unit dedicated to improving efficiency within state and local government.

“Due to the state’s current fiscal crisis, we need an independent auditor who dares to call a spade a spade regardless of partisanship,” Sand said in a statement announcing his candidacy. “I’ve prosecuted Republicans and Democrats and will continue to ignore partisan affiliation as State Auditor.”

Sand, 35, of Des Moines worked as an assistant attorney general from 2010 until earlier this year when he resigned to run for office. During that time, he has prosecuted public corruption and financial crimes, including the “Hot Lotto” case in which an Iowa employee at a multi-state lottery organization fixed lottery jackpots worth almost $25 million.

The state auditor’s office performs financial audits of Iowa state government and the state’s political subdivisions – including counties, cities and school districts. It also conducts performance audits of state agencies and investigates instances of possible financial fraud.

If elected, Sand said he’ll include law enforcement officials at the start of the office’s financial investigations and to provide more recommendations to local governments on how to improve their financial processes.

The current auditor is Mary Mosiman, a Republican first appointed to the office in 2013 and elected to a full term in 2014.

A Decorah native, Sand attended Brown University and the University of Iowa Law School.