Reynolds prepares to ‘pick up the mantle’

DES MOINES - Assuming all goes as planned, Kim Reynolds will be Iowa's governor before lunch.

The moment has been months - perhaps even years - in the making.

Reynolds has been preparing for this transition at least since early December, when Gov. Terry Branstad accepted an offer from then-President-elect Donald Trump to become the next ambassador to China.

But in many ways, Reynolds has been preparing for this since 2011, when she joined Branstad in the governor's office as his lieutenant. Over the past six-plus years, he has groomed her to take over whenever he chose to step aside.

'Today's been an emotional day for me,” Reynolds, 57, said Tuesday during an interview with The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau. 'Just because I've really enjoyed serving with Gov. Branstad. We've been a team and partners, and we've had fun, and we've worked hard, and he's been a great mentor, somebody I go to for advice and counsel. So it'll be different. But, you know, I'm excited and ready also to pick up the mantle and continue to lead Iowa.”

Branstad, at his final weekly news conference as governor, threw his support to Reynolds.

'I'm very excited to leave the governorship in the hands of a very dedicated public servant who has worked diligently and been a great partner of mine,” said Branstad, 70. 'I have no doubt that she will lead the state to bigger and better things in the future, and I know nobody that's ever been as well prepared to take over the responsibilities of the chief executive of the state as Kim Reynolds.”

Reynolds said she plans to spend part of Thursday and Friday attending events throughout the state.

Several significant issues await her.

The state's human services department is under fire after the death of a teenage girl adopted out of the state foster system, the second such death in the past eight months. At least one Democratic legislator has called for the removal of department director Chuck Palmer.

Reynolds expressed confidence Tuesday in Palmer and did not say whether she would make changes in leadership in the department or any other state agency.

'First of all, Chuck has done a great job, and I certainly appreciate his service to the state,” Reynolds said. 'But we're going to be making those announcements in the days ahead.”

Reynolds will serve as governor for the remainder of Branstad's four-year term, which ends after the 2018 election.

Although she has not made it official, Reynolds almost surely will run for election in 2018. She has been raising money - her campaign account had more than $1 million at the end of 2016 - and she speaks about leading Iowa in ways that could not be contained to a 19-month interim tenure.

'We'll make that decision down the road. There's so many things we're focusing on right now,” Reynolds said. 'There's a lot of time to make that announcement. But I don't anticipate going anywhere for a long time. I want to continue to build on what we've been doing.”

Reynolds could face a primary challenge from fellow Republican Ron Corbett, the outgoing mayor of Cedar Rapids who has been on a book tour of the state.

Reynolds' first legislative session as governor will coincide with the critical months leading up to the June 2018 primary election.

'First of all, you don't focus on that. You focus on doing the job at hand,” Reynolds said. 'You just have to keep doing the right thing, and you have to do the right thing that you believe in. There will be a lot of opposition, and there will be a lot of naysayers. ... I'm hoping my record will speak for itself.”