Robert Howard Sand is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has served as the 33rd State Auditor of Iowa since 2019, notably becoming the only Democrat to win a statewide office in Iowa in the 2022 election. Before his political career, he served as Assistant Attorney General of Iowa from 2010 to 2017, where he prosecuted major financial crimes, including the Iowa Film Office tax credit scandal and the historic Hot Lotto fraud scheme, which resulted in a 25-year prison sentence for rigger Eddie Tipton. Born in Decorah, Iowa, in 1982, Sand's unconventional path included a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, an internship with Senator Tom Harkin, and a stint modeling menswear in Milan and Paris. In 2018, he defeated incumbent Republican Mary Mosiman to become only the second Democrat in a century to hold the auditor's office, and he was sworn in on January 2, 2019, with a self-described "tri-partisan" leadership team. After winning reelection in 2022, Sand announced his candidacy for the 2026 Iowa gubernatorial election in May 2025, securing the Democratic nomination and facing Republican businessman Zach Lahn.