It's holiday season, and that means it's time for some more good news. When you dig into campaign finances, it can sometimes be a downer, but there are bright spots, and that's why I created the Strong Roots Award.

In 2018, Iowa Democrats celebrated some big wins at the federal level. Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenaur flipped seats in the US House of Representatives, and JD Scholten nearly defeated Steve King in the 4th district (47.0% to 50.3%), but at the state level, results were less exciting for Democrats. Even though incumbents Michael Fitzgerald and Tom Miller won re-election, Fred Hubbell lost his race for the governorship, Deidre DeJear lost her race for Secretary of State, and Tim Gannon lost his race for Secretary of Agriculture. Republicans increased their majority in the state Senate by 3 seats, and although Republicans lost 4 seats in the Iowa House, they retained control of that body.

Then there's Rob Sand. The loveably geeky former prosecutor and chicken catcher, who used his humor, his commitment to truth and accountability, and his passion for breakfast pizza to propel himself to victory in the race for State Auditor. As Auditor, Rob has posted "Transparency Tuesday" videos on his Facebook page where he describes what he did on behalf of the People each week. He often engages with the public on social media and other official and unofficial venues, sharing his work, having conversations, throwing out some "dad jokes," and even inviting his harshest critics to come meet with him and talk about their concerns. At the Iowa Liberty and Justice dinner, rather than announcing support for a presidential candidate, Rob endorsed "friendship" and invited campaign workers for all the various presidential campaigns to gather together to play pickleball and socialize. By all accounts, that's just the type of person Rob is. He's Iowa nice.

Rob's work shouldn't go un-noticed either. Just in the last few weeks, Rob has worked with the FBI to uncover an alleged $1.8 million embezzlement scheme involving the Metro Waste Authority, revealed $40,000 in allegedly improper relocation benefits to an Iowa State Patrol supervisor, objected to $400,000 in payments to appeal Terry Branstad's discrimination lawsuit, found that the Glenwood Resource Center (which is also under federal investigation) did not complete mandated trainings in time, joined Agriculture Secretary Naig in learning how to administer naloxone, and finished a 99 county tour of Iowa. He also signed up to be a bone marrow donor.

Rob's campaign contributions show why he's so beholden to the People of Iowa: He's 98.4% funded by individual contributions. Now, those individual contributions aren't perfect, and I would be remiss not to point out a few things given my critique of the gubernatorial campaign. Only 5.6% of Rob's funds were from contributions less than $200, and Rob took a large amount of money from 4 people especially: his wife ($230,000), himself ($37,000), Nixon Lauridsen ($730,000), and Nancy Lauridsen ($100,000). The Lauridsens are Rob's parents-in-law, and they founded the Lauridsen Group in 1994, expanding the Lauridsen creamery into a food, nutrition, pharmaceutical, and biological research company.

But what is truly exciting about Sand's campaign finances is what is not there: there's very little (1.6%) in money from companies/other entities. Rob didn't even take money from the Iowa Democratic Party. It's simple to understand what empowers Sand to stand up for the people instead of special interests. His campaign was powered by the people instead of special interests. For that reason, Rob Sand gets the Strong Roots Award.

Merry Christmas, Rob. You passed the audit.

Cover image attribution

Image was modified by me. The grass was taken from a public domain image. Roots were taken from this public domain image