What this office is
A governor is the state’s chief executive. Typical duties include proposing a budget, signing or vetoing bills, appointing some officials, and commanding the state National Guard under state and federal law. Term length and term limits are set by each state’s constitution. Lieutenant-governor pairing, if any, follows that state’s ballot design. The candidate list prints governor and lieutenant governor on separate rows.
Why it matters in 2026
The Secretary of State’s general-election page lists Governor/Lt. Governor among the offices on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Iowa election authorities certify the contest. This site does not.
Each line pairs the governor and lieutenant governor of one party, in the order the candidate list prints the governor rows. The list itself uses separate rows: Zach Lahn (Republican) and Derek Wulf (Republican); Rob Sand (Democratic) and Dave Muhlbauer (Democratic). This page does not reprint addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses from the list.
Candidates
Names below are the candidates on the official general-election list cited on this page, in that list’s order. Party labels are the labels on that list. This is not an endorsement, not a vote total, and not a call of the race.
Zach Lahn and Derek Wulf
Republican
The candidate list names Zach Lahn for governor and Derek Wulf for lieutenant governor, both Republican.
The general-election candidate list names Zach Lahn, Republican, for governor and Derek Wulf, Republican, for lieutenant governor.
Read more:General-election candidate list
Rob Sand and Dave Muhlbauer
Democratic
The candidate list names Rob Sand for governor and Dave Muhlbauer for lieutenant governor, both Democratic.
The general-election candidate list names Rob Sand, Democratic, for governor and Dave Muhlbauer, Democratic, for lieutenant governor.
Read more:General-election candidate list