Iowa Democrat candidate for governor Rob Sand is attempting to trick voters into thinking he is not a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party.

Sand told Fox News host Bill Hemmer during an interview last month, “I think the two-choice system, Bill, is actually more about controlling us than it is about hearing us or solving our problems,” and said he initially registered to vote as an independent.

When asked why he is not running as an independent, Sand had no answer, instead stating, “I think most voters understand why.”

As Sand himself has made clear, he is a Democrat.

Sand has served two terms as the state auditor in Iowa, the only statewide elected Democrat in the Hawkeye State. He faces Republican Zach Lahn in November to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Sand’s campaign has been bankrolled and supported by prominent Democrat governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, who leads the Democrat Governors Association. Beshear has already traveled to Iowa to campaign for Sand.

“Rob has the momentum — and we couldn’t be more excited to work with him as he brings people together to win this race and deliver real change for Iowans,” said Beshear in a statement earlier this year.

At a June event, Beshear said while campaigning with Sand, “I am living, breathing proof that Democrats can win anywhere, and we should be fighting everywhere.”

Sand’s campaign has accepted over six figures in combined funding from far-left Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Sand served as a co-chair of Joe Biden’s 2020 Iowa campaign and has defended disastrous Democrat policies such as the “Green New Deal.”

His campaign has also been caught misleading Iowa voters in television ads. The Iowa Republican Party caught the campaign labeling a 2020 Biden political organizer as a “lifelong Republican.”

Sand also did not comment on the insult of Iowa farmers made by fellow Democrat Chris Jones, who said farmers are “wealthy,” grain farming is “not that hard,” and farmers are “only working a few weeks out of the year,” Breitbart News reported in August. Jones is running to become the state’s agriculture commissioner and would serve with Sand if he becomes governor.

Republican Governor’s Association communications director Kollin Crompton said in a statement, “National Democrats are lining up behind Rob Sand because they know Sand will do their bidding. Sand wants to change Iowa’s safe, secure election system into California’s, base the state budget on marijuana, and raise taxes on working families.”