Michael Bousselot to step down as director of Iowa Department of Management

DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to name a new director of the Iowa Department of Management, replacing the current agency leader who has been nominated by Iowa Republicans as their candidate in an upcoming special legislative election.

According to the governor’s office, Michael Bousselot will resign from his current state post in the near future and an acting director will be named.

“We are taking a few days to transition to a new acting director, but yes, he is resigning,” Reynolds’ spokesman Pat Garrett said Monday.

Last Saturday, the Iowa Republican Party of Iowa announced that Bousselot won a special nominating convention to be the party’s candidate in the special election for Iowa House District 37, which covers part of Ankeny and other areas in northern Polk County.

Reynolds has scheduled a special election for Sept. 14 to fill the legislative seat vacated by the death of state Rep. John Landon. He died last month after a prolonged battle with cancer after serving in the post since 2013.

Bousselot will face Democrat Andrea Phillips, who was unsuccessful previously in challenging Landon for the House District 37 seat.

A Davenport native, Bousselot lives in Ankeny and serves as Reynolds’ management leader, state budget director and chairman of the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference. He previously served as chief of staff, legal counsel and as a policy adviser in the Branstad-Reynolds administration.

He graduated from the University of Iowa with undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting and with a law degree from Drake University Law School.

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