When Tom Sands announced he wasn’t running for re-election the day after his name appeared on the primary ballot, it took many by surprise. According to Sands, this has been something he’s been thinking about for months. He said he wasn’t quite at a place where he thought he didn’t want to run for re-election and had fellow legislators convince him to come back one more time, but it didn’t take him long to realize he had made the wrong decision. He said it wasn’t fair to his wife or family or the people of District 88, so he decided to remove himself from the election. Sands explained he’s been on the ballot since March, and it wouldn’t have made any difference if he had announced his intentions before or after the primary because there wouldn’t have been time to put someone else’s name on the ballot instead.

With Sands stepping down, a special committee will decide on the nominee for the November general election. Sands himself was nominated in 2002 under similar circumstances after the Republican nominee stepped down after the primary due to health reasons. Jason Delzell of Wapello has announced his intentions to seek the nomination. Check out the In Touch with Southeast Iowa interview with Sands for more information about his decision, it can be found at KCIIRadio.com.