New Ad Follows the Money Behind Rob Sand’s Campaign — and Finds a Troubling Environmental Record

Democrat Rob Sand, the billionaire Democrat running for Iowa governor, is the target of a new ad by Republican Zach Lahn. That ad not only takes aim at the company funding Sand’s campaign but also shines a spotlight on its troubling environmental record.

Sand is married to Christine Lauridsen Sand, the CEO of the Lauridsen Group (LGI), a privately held, family-owned Iowa holding company. LGI owns six companies, including Boyer Valley Company and Essentia Protein Solutions.

According to a review of campaign finance records, Rob Sand has received approximately $13 million in campaign contributions from the Lauridsen family.

Boyer Valley Company produces poultry byproducts for the manufacture of organic fertilizer. This includes Feather Meal, marketed as a slow-release, high-nitrogen fertilizer, and Poultry Blood Meal, marketed as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Essential Protein Solutions, the other company held by LGI, has a documented history with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), including records relating to pollution and enforcement.

The companies’ record with Iowa’s DNR includes illegal discharges that resulted in excess E. coli and ammonia reaching the West Fork Camp Creek. This illegal dumping is poisoning Iowa’s rivers and its drinking water as the ad points out. High nitrate loads in the water is a leading cause of colorectal cancer, according to scientific studies. And in April of last year, another study showed Iowa has extremely high nitrate loads in its water, which puts residents at risk.

After taking $13 million in campaign donations, the ad also asks a question that Iowa voters deserve to have answered: after all those donations, what do those companies expect in return?

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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