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NORTH LIBERTY — At a town hall meant to showcase unity in a polarized era, Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand on Thursday was pressed to define how he would protect transgender Iowans’ rights — drawing the sharpest exchanges of the evening and setting the tone for a wide-ranging discussion on water quality, education, school vouchers, mental health and child care.

A standing-room-only crowd of a couple hundred people packed into Field Day Brewing in North Liberty Thursday to hear from Sand and ask questions of the gubernatorial candidate.

Sand faced pointed questions on LGBTQ protections, after Republican state lawmakers this year repealed state civil rights protections for transgender Iowans

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