DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In a surprise announcement Friday, Iowa Gov. said she will not seek a third term in office in 2026.
Reynolds, a Republican, has held the position since 2017, when former Gov. Terry Branstad was . She was elected to full terms in 2018 and again in 2022.
“This wasn’t an easy decision, because I love this state and I love serving you,” Reynolds said in a video posted on social media. “But, when my term ends, I will have had the privilege of serving as your governor for almost 10 years.”
Reynolds said she is leaving office after years of her family supporting her, saying now “it’s time for me to be there for them.” Her husband, Kevin Reynolds, was in 2023. In her condition of the state in January, she said his cancer remained in remission.
Reynolds, who got her start in politics as treasurer in largely rural Clarke County in southern Iowa, population less than 10,000, was the . She was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008 before serving as Branstad’s running mate in the 2010 election. She served as lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2017.
Iowa’s since Reynolds first got to the state capitol in Des Moines. The state launched former President Barack Obama’s presidential bid and supported him in both the 2008 and 2012 general elections then clearly backed President in , 2020 and 2024.
Republicans have been in the majority in both the Iowa House and Senate since 2017 and have been steadily increasing those majorities under Reynolds’ leadership, giving her ample opportunity to advance her priorities.
She’s also not shied away from the national attention that comes with . She delivered the to President Joe Biden’s 2022 address to Congress and she chaired the Republican Governors Association in 2023.
And as Trump has moved on his second-term at the federal level, Reynolds has regularly highlighted the conservative policies Iowa has already adopted.
Reynolds has celebrated her work to get across the finish line, signing into law in 2023 the creation of publicly funded educational savings accounts for students’ private school tuition or other approved expenses.
More than 27,000 students used the program in the 2024-2025 school year, which becomes available to any student in the coming year. Reynolds’ proposed budget line for the accounts next year reached $314 million.
She backed policies of bathrooms and locker rooms, , in an effort to protect people assigned female at birth. This year, to affirm those, she a bill to from the state civil rights code.
Since her last reelection, Reynolds also in the summer of 2023 to give Republican lawmakers an opportunity to pass after about six weeks of pregnancy. That law is .
Praise for the governor poured in from Iowa’s Republican leaders after her announcement, many highlighting her achievements on growing Iowa’s workforce and lowering taxes.
“Taxes are low, cash reserves are full, our freedoms defended, and Iowa’s future has never been brighter,” Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.
Reynolds said she has “no doubt that Iowa and our Republican Party will remain in great hands,” noting the “foundation of strong conservative leadership that will continue to serve this state well.”
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