My opponent is a carpetbagger.
That’s the argument from two candidates for governor looking to upset Republican favorites in states that decidedly supported President Donald Trump in 2024.
In Iowa, Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand has accused Republican Zach Lahn of running while actually living in Kansas.
Lahn does have ties to Kansas, including his ex-wife and children who still live there, but he moved back to Iowa in 2023 and voted there in 2024.
Before that, Lahn voted in Kansas in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections.
Despite the time away, he’s still an Iowa native.
“He bought his family’s farm in 2014, and his family’s farm has been in that family for about a century,” Tim Hagle, political science professor at the University of Iowa, told Straight Arrow.
The law in Iowa stipulates that any gubernatorial candidate in the state must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen and a resident of the state for two years before that election.
Lahn meets all of those requirements.
Political move
“In politics, you have to have something to put your hook in, and for the Democrats, the fact that Lahn has been not in Iowa all the time, that he’s been living away, that he’s been working for Americans for Prosperity out of state, is a great hook,” Steffen Schmidt, professor emeritus of political science at Iowa State University, told Straight Arrow.
Sand has leaned into this to get the people of Iowa on his side.
He’s launched TV ads talking about Lahn’s split time between the two states.
Democrats have even specifically called him a carpetbagger on their official state website.
“This is something that Democrats will try to push, but I’m not sure it’s going to convince a whole lot of people,” Hagle said.
Republicans are going to vote for Lahn.
Democrats are going to vote for Sand.
It’s the in-between voters that Sand is targeting with these attacks.
“They’re probably going to care more about the issues that are important to them, and usually the no-party folks don’t care about the political infighting stuff,” Hagle said.
Lahn pushback
Lahn has fought back against the allegations.
“Rob Sand claims to be a different kind of politician, but he started this campaign by lying about me and my children in a deeply personal way,” he wrote on X.
Lahn’s official campaign website features extensive information on his and his family’s background in Iowa.
The website says he’s a sixth-generation Iowan and traces his family’s roots to the state to 1862 when his great-great-great-grandfather volunteered for Iowa’s Second Cavalry during the Civil War.
That’s part of his strategy to win over voters.
“Iowans are very proud of their state, and they love people who were born there and grew up there,” Schmidt said.
This war of words between the two candidates isn’t likely to end anytime soon.
The election for Iowa’s next governor is set for Nov. 3.
“This race is going to be fascinating,” Schmidt said. “It’s going to be a great race. It’s going to bring out a lot of voters in both parties, and Iowans are really pretty lucky to have two people like that offering themselves to become the governor.”
Alabama governor race
While carpetbagging remains the accusation in Alabama, it’s a Republican-on-Republican fight.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, maintains he lives in Alabama but has been accused of living at another home in Florida.
Alabama’s rules differ from Iowa’s and require candidates to have been in the state for seven years prior.
The Alabama Republican Party said it will hear the challenge from Ken McFeeters, the Republican who finished second to him in the primary.
He would become the GOP nominee if Tuberville became ineligible.
“He’s actually saying he’s a resident and they’re using that for his residency and his wife’s residency back in ‘18 as Alabama,” McFeeters told the Alabama Reflector. “November of ‘18, they voted in Florida, and that’s a federal crime, for voting in a state you don’t reside in.”
Tuberville has submitted tax returns to prove his residency, but an investigation into other aspects of the senator’s residence could keep the issue relevant.
A reporter took a deeper dive into Tuberville’s expense records. He found that the senator has spent a lot of the government’s money traveling to Florida and has spent a lot of time there.
What’s also unclear is if he’s been on the deed to the home he stays at in Alabama for the required seven years. If not, that could bolster the argument that he’s ineligible for the governor’s office.
Round out your reading
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