As Iowa Cancer Rates Rise, New Ad Links Democrat to Water Pollution

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Democrat nominee for governor in the state with the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the nation is being tied to part of the problem.

In a new campaign ad, Iowa Republican gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn links his Democrat opponent, Rob Sand, to Iowa water pollution. The ad also criticizes Sand for benefitting from taxpayer funds and owing his family’s agriculture company after millions were given to his campaign.

“With Iowa Cancer rates skyrocketing, Rob Sand’s biggest donor got caught polluting your drinking water,” the ad from Lahn’s campaign opens, referencing Lauridsen Group Inc., a family-owned business connected to the candidate.

Iowa is experiencing a cancer crisis, and Iowa’s polluted water is directly correlated with it. The Iowa Cancer Registry’s 2026 Cancer in Iowa report projects 21,700 new cancer diagnoses and 6,400 cancer deaths in Iowa in 2026. The registry found that national cancer rates are decreasing while Iowa’s rate is rising.

Sand has received nearly $13 million in campaign contributions from his wife and members of her family. While it is common for candidates to self-fund their campaigns or receive support from family members, the Lauridsen family business, led by Sand’s wife, owns companies that produce pesticides and have been subject to enforcement actions by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The ad claims that “they dumped E. coli, ammonia, and they never even reported it.”

In 2026, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued AMPC LLC, doing business as Essentia Protein Solutions, a company under the Lauridsen family business, an administrative consent order concerning violations documented in 2025. The department documented repeated violations, including the company’s failure to report wastewater escaping from its lagoon.

The department fined the company $8,000 for illegal discharges, including discharges associated with leaking storage silos and excessive levels of E. coli and ammonia reaching West Fork Camp Creek.

The ad claims Sand, as state auditor, should have investigated his family’s business for the department’s enforcement action and for receiving tax breaks after promising new jobs that were never created. According to the Iowa auditor’s website, there was never an audit of Lauridsen Group Inc. or its affiliated companies.

The ad claims that Lauridsen and its affiliated companies “pocketed millions of [Iowans’] tax dollars” by “promising new jobs that were never created.”

According to Iowa Economic Development Authority records, the group received $3.3 million in taxpayer-funded assistance and tax benefits from the state of Iowa and the city of Ankeny. Before Sand became state auditor, the company was awarded more than $500,000 for an expansion project in Ankeny that was expected to create 40 new jobs. However, the project created only 13 of the 40 promised jobs, according to the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

“They’ve given Sand $13 million, the most in Iowa history. What more do you think they expect in return?” the ad concludes.

Sand and the Lauridsen Group did not immediately respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.

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