Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s more than likely she’ll decide who to pick as Iowa’s next lieutenant governor after the November election.
“We want to get it right not only for the team, but for Iowans,” Reynolds said this afternoon, “and so I want to be very thoughtful in how I do that.”
Adam Gregg, who’d been Iowa’s lieutenant governor since mid-2017, resigned in early September to take the top job at the Iowa Bankers Association. During a news conference in the statehouse earlier this afternoon, Reynolds said she didn’t have a lot of advance notice about Gregg’s decision, and then left on a 10 day trade mission to India. The governor indicated she and her staff are collecting the names of people she might consider, but interviews have not begun.
“We’re putting the process together and doing what we need to be doing,” Reynolds said, ” and we’ll probably make that decision after the election.”
Reynolds said she’ll sit down with different people who she thinks might be a good partner. “Ask the questions that talk about priorities and what they think it looks like,” Reynolds said. “And what are some of their visions for moving this state forward and what are some areas they’re interested in working on? What are they passionate about? How does that fit into what we’re working on?”
Former Governor Terry Branstad chose Reynolds fas his running mate in 2010 and she took over as governor when he resigned to become U-S Ambassador to China. The person Reynolds chooses as lieutenant governor is likely to be her running mate in 2026, if she runs for reelection.