Republicans celebrate Iowa’s new governor

DES MOINES - Iowa Republicans celebrated the swearing-in of the state's new governor, Kim Reynolds, with a black-tie soiree Friday night in Des Moines' East Village.

The event was hosted by and a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa. It served as the party's substitution for the inaugural celebration that traditionally is held after a new governor is elected to office.

Organizers estimated roughly 1,300 people attended the event; tickets were sold for $75.

Reynolds, a Republican from St. Charles and the state's lieutenant governor since 2011, was sworn in as governor on May 24 after former Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China.

Reynolds is the state's first female governor.

'Tonight is an evening for breaking glass ceilings. Tonight is an evening for us to celebrate,” state party chairman Jeff Kaufmann said.

'You can sum this up pretty succinctly,” he said. 'If a girl from St. Charles, Iowa, can assume the governorship in Iowa, we can look the children of Iowa in the eyes and say, ‘Your dreams can come true.' That's what Kim Reynolds gives us.”

Reynolds follows fellow Iowa Republican glass-ceiling breakers in U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, the state's first woman member of Congress, and state Rep. Linda Upmeyer, the state's first woman speaker of the House.

Ernst and Upmeyer attended Friday night's event.

Reynolds encouraged Ernst to run for the Iowa Senate in 2010 and then the U.S. Senate in 2014.

'Kim is a true optimist and somebody who never stops working until a task is completed,” Ernst said. '(Reynolds) never stops thriving for a better and brighter tomorrow. That is our Kim Reynolds.”

Reynolds, 57, gave a brief address in which she described her rural small-town roots and her public service as a county treasurer and state legislator.

She reiterated, from the address she gave after being sworn in, her administration's top four goals: creating a competitive business environment and innovative energy policy, educating the state's children and training its workforce.

'My journey started in the courthouse and went to the statehouse,” Reynolds said. 'I want you to know that each and every day my team and I, we are going to wake up and ask ourselves, ‘What are we going to do to build a better Iowa?' ”

Branstad did not attend the event, but through Kaufmann delivered a message stating his confidence in Reynolds as his successor.