GOP State Auditor Candidate: Republicans Have “Owned” The Office

Iowa Republicans really seem to feel like they “own” the State Auditor’s office.

At an event earlier this month in Eldora, GOP nominee Todd Halbur told a crowd at the local Republican Sweet Corn Feed that their party has traditionally “owned” the auditor role and needs to take it back.

“We’ve owned this office from 1967 to 2018,” Halbur said, as reported by the Times Citizen. “All Republicans, all financial people that had CPAs. I do not have a CPA, either does Rob Sand… We need to take this office back.”

The comments come a few months after remarks made by Gov. Kim Reynolds where she said she wanted her “own AG” and “a state auditor that’s not trying to sue me every time they turn around.” That drew widespread criticism over the idea that the other independently-elected statewide offices were only there to serve the interests of the governor and not the voters.

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Halbur also called incumbent State Auditor Rob Sand “an unfocused attorney with a social agenda.”

Sand, meanwhile, has consistently pitched a “non-partisan” approach to the office as he explains his work while he travels around the state.

“This office, and all others, belong to the people of Iowa,” Sand’s campaign manager said in a statement. “State Auditor Sand has stayed faithful to all Iowans by putting a Republican, an Independent, and Democrat in senior leadership, even when they had contributed to his opponent in 2018.”

Halbur achieved a bit of an upset in the Republican primary, winning narrowly over former legislator Mary Ann Hanusa, but he has struggled to raise money since—he posted just $2,050 in contributions in his latest fundraising report.

by Pat Rynard
08/18/22

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