Iowa's two leading Democratic candidates for office said they don't want to campaign with their party's 2024 presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, as they face competitive midterm races this November.
"No thanks," Democratic governor candidate Rob Sand told Politico. "Let's move on. We need some new leadership."
"No," Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek told Iowa reporters Wednesday, Aug. 26, when he was asked if he would want Harris to campaign on his behalf. He did not elaborate.
Sand, Iowa's state auditor, went a step farther, saying he wouldn't want Harris to run for president in 2028 either. "No," he said simply, when Politico asked.
He acknowledged some politicians "probably" wouldn't be helpful to his campaign efforts in Iowa, including Harris and former Democratic President Joe Biden.
But he noted that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a fellow red-state Democrat, rallied with him in Des Moines earlier this year.
As Iowa Democrats debate how to handle the national party's decision to once again omit Iowa from its early voting calendar, it's an open question whether national Democratic figures will seek to campaign in Iowa ahead of the 2028 presidential election the way they once did when Iowa Democrats held their first-in-the-nation caucuses.
In the meantime, both Sand and Turek are trying to chart a more moderate course and create some separation with their party, which has been on an electoral losing streak in Iowa.
Registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by more than 180,000 people in the state, and both Democrats will need to win over independent voters and some Republicans to notch a statewide victory in November.
More: Even Iowa? Trump's troubles tighten races for Senate, governor
Sand has spoken at length on his town hall tour about embracing his "independent mind" even as he registered to vote with the Democratic Party. He has said he'd like to eliminate partisan primaries to give independent voters a bigger say, and he's criticized the nation's two-party system.
Republicans argue that he's a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who is pretending to be a moderate. They note he supported Biden in 2020 and he praised Biden's selection of Harris as his running mate that year.
"Sand can change his rhetoric, but he can't erase his record," Republican Party of Iowa spokesperson Jade Cichy said in a statement. "A liberal with better branding is still a liberal."
Turek is running television ads highlighting his bipartisan voting record, saying he voted 700 times with Republicans and would work with Republican President Donald Trump if elected to Congress.
Republicans have also criticized Turek as "too liberal" for Iowa, seeking to cast him as an ally of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Sand, who is gaining a national following as he runs for governor, has been floated by some in the national media as a potential 2028 presidential contender himself. The New York Times listed him as a politician "who could make a quick leap" to a national run.
At the same time, Republicans have criticized Sand as a career politician who they say has been campaigning for his next office since being elected state auditor in 2018.
Sand shut down the prospect of a future White House bid when asked by Politico.
"No," he said, he does not want to run for president one day.
"No," he said, he would not be open to being someone's vice presidential pick.
"No," he said, it's never going to happen.
Sand pushed back on the interviewer, who sounded a note of skepticism.
"I told you my answer," Sand said. "You don't have to believe me."
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected], by phone at 515-284-8169 or on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rob Sand, Josh Turek say 'no thanks' to campaigning with Kamala Harris