Report: Reynolds to name a new lieutenant, possibly this week

By Erin Murphy, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES - Despite a legal opinion saying she can't, Gov. Kim Reynolds will appoint a lieutenant governor to replace her, a local party leader said Wednesday.

The Cerro Gordo County Republican Party is advertising an event Friday in Mason City in which supporters can 'meet the new Lt. Governor.”

Barbara Hovland, chairwoman of the Cerro Gordo County GOP, confirmed to the Mason City Globe Gazette that Reynolds is set to name a lieutenant governor. Hovland did not say whom Reynolds will name as her No. 2.

Reynolds has scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Thursday, ostensibly to say whether she will appoint a new lieutenant governor. The news conference is set for the governor's formal office at the Iowa Capitol.

When reached for comment, the governor's office said only that Reynolds will announce her decision Thursday morning.

Reynolds was lieutenant governor until she was sworn in Wednesday to the top job.

Whether she is permitted by the state constitution to name a new lieutenant is the subject of legal debate.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, gave a formal opinion saying that Reynolds, as a Republican replacement governor, does not hold the authority to appoint a new lieutenant - essentially that she would remain as second in charge and have the duties and title of governor 'devolve” upon her.

That formal opinion came months after Miller originally said in a statement he thought Reynolds would be able to appoint a lieutenant.

If Reynolds appoints a lieutenant despite the opinion, which is not legally binding, her administration could be subject to a lawsuit challenging the appointment.

After Miller issued his opinion, Reynolds maintained 'the law is on our side” but then wouldn't say what she planned.

Republicans widely panned the opinion as a political ploy to weaken the new governor,

But in a response, Miller said that 'despite all the rhetoric, this thoroughly researched opinion is based on the law and not politics.”

He said voters would have to change the state constitution to allow it.