After a decade of defeats, some Iowa Democrats are changing the way they talk to voters

ERIN MURPHY Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

CRESTON — Skip Kenyon liked what he heard from Rob Sand.

A retired lawyer from Creston, Kenyon said he found himself in total agreement with Sand, who talked about his faith, led the crowd in singing “America the Beautiful,” praised law enforcement and bad-mouthed the Democrat-led states of California and New York.

Sand also railed against the country’s two-party political system that is dominated by Democrats and Republicans.

Sand is the Democratic State Auditor running as a Democrat to be Iowa’s next governor.

Kenyon voted Republican in the last election but came to hear from Sand — along with more than 100 others — on an early August weekday afternoon in this Union County seat of roughly 7,500.

“I agree with him 100%. I think he hit the na