Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
      • U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to elect more Republican women into office

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 13
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
      • ‘The bench is loaded’: A record number of Latinas are running for governor

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: The governor’s races we’re watching in 2022

        Barbara Rodriguez · May 3
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

        Candice Norwood, Terri Rupar · March 21
      • The 19th Explains: Colleges are dropping the SAT in admissions. That’s a good thing for most girls.

        Nadra Nittle · March 3
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
      • Girls are being socialized to lose political ambition — and it starts younger than we realized

        Barbara Rodriguez · September 23
      • Kathy Hochul’s rise in New York spotlights the barriers to women becoming governors

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 23
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
      • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

        Sara Luterman · October 12
      • The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?

        Mariel Padilla · September 9
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Donate to get our member newsletter

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Kim Reynolds cheers and claps from the crowd at a
Kim Reynolds cheers at a "Keep America Great" campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa in January 2020. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Politics

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the power of Republican women as party messengers

As one of only three Republican women governors in the country, Kim Reynolds could prove beneficial to a party trying to appeal to suburban White women.

Barbara Rodriguez

Statehouses Reporter

Barbara Rodriguez portrait

Published

2022-03-01 11:41
11:41
March 1, 2022
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is set to deliver the Republican Party’s rebuttal to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, giving her a national spotlight to talk about the power of GOP governors to enact policies at a time their party is out of power in Washington and sell conservatism to women voters.  

Republican governors have taken a prominent role in pushing back against President Joe Biden’s pandemic policies on masks and vaccines, among them Reynolds. She signed legislation in early 2021 to keep schools open and sued to block vaccine mandates. She has also embraced other policies that have been popular in Republican-led state legislatures, including on restricting abortion, limiting how history is taught in schools and banning transgender people from playing sports that match their gender identity.

“Republican governors across America are leading the charge in defending liberty and securing unmatched economic prosperity in our states,” Reynolds said in a statement released when her selection was announced. Her spokesperson declined an interview request from The 19th.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Reynolds, 62, is taking on this national role as her party works to expand its appeal to women voters and voters of color as the Democratic Party increasingly diversifies. As one of three Republican women governors, she’s uniquely positioned to combine themes around her state-level authority as governor and what she sees at the benefits of conservative policies through the lens of being a woman. She’s also leading a state primed to be at the center of conservative politics: Party officials in Iowa will host the country’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses in 2024.

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Republican women know their power in being key messengers in support of social policies, said Catherine Wineinger, an assistant professor of political science at Western Washington University.

“A lot of these issues do intersect with gender, and I think women in the party recognize that,” she said. “They recognize that they have a unique voice to add to that conversation.”

In 2020, every Republican who flipped a U.S. House seat was either a woman or a person of color. GOP officials who are not White men have also taken on roles as the face of the party, including in rebuttals like the one Reynolds is set to give Tuesday. During the Obama presidency, Washington state Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers delivered the rebuttal speech in 2014, followed by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst in 2015 and then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in 2016. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Senate Republican, responded to the congressional address that Biden delivered during his first year in office.

Sen. Tim Scott waves as his colleagues applaud him.
Sen. Tim Scott acknowledges applause during the State of the Union address in February 2020 on Capitol Hill. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Reynolds’ selection may also appeal to suburban White women ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, said Rachel Paine Caufield, a political science professor at Drake University in Iowa. The majority of White women tend to back Republicans, and their support in Virginia suburbs has been described as a key factor in Republicans’ statewide and legislative wins last year.

“There are leaders within the Republican Party who recognize that it’s vitally important that they elevate women’s voices within the party and really find a group of Republican women who can speak to the concerns of those suburban White women voters,” Caufield added.

Wineinger said Republicans’ selection of women rebuttal speakers in recent years is partially a response to criticism about inclusivity by a Democratic Party in which both officials and voters are more likely to be women and people of color. Wineinger said Reynolds will be visually important after Biden delivers his address alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Wineinger emphasized that Republican women are advocating for themselves and their political power in seeking key messaging roles, a nod to the fact that they might not see politics as gender-blind.

“We have really sort of seen this shift in Republican women recognizing that their gender is electorally beneficial for the party, and I think they’ve been sort of working together to try to convince party leaders that it is,” she said.

  • More from The 19th
    President Biden waves as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.
  • What will Biden say in the State of the Union address? Here’s what The 19th is watching.
  • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary
  • Hear from Black women leading on the economy and environment in the White House

In a few short years as governor, Reynolds has helped shift a once-purple state sharply to the right. Ahead of her speech Tuesday, she’s scheduled to sign into law expansive income and corporate tax cuts.

Iowa Democrats have repeatedly condemned Reynolds’ policy positions. Ross Wilburn, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, criticized Reynolds’ policies around the pandemic, taxes and workforce developments. 

“The only thing Kim Reynolds should be saying about President Biden and Democrats’ agenda is ‘thank you’ since they delivered when she and her Republican colleagues in Congress have repeatedly failed,” Wilburn said in a statement.

Damian Thompson is the director of public policy and communication at Iowa Safe Schools, which provides services to LGBTQ+ youth in Iowa. He noted the juxtaposition of Reynolds prioritizing secondary education opportunities and apprenticeships for high school students and the effect of bills that target transgender youth.

“You can’t say that you’re supporting prosperity, working on workforce development, ensuring that Iowa is ‘future ready’ — while entirely marginalizing what is a large part of the student and youth population that you’re intending to target with these economic development measures,” he said. “Those two items are completely at odds with each other, and it’s just disappointing and counterproductive.” 

Reynolds’ political arc stretches back nearly 30 years. She was first elected as a county treasurer in 1994, serving in the role until she won a seat in the Iowa Senate in 2008.

In 2010, Terry Branstad — then a former governor seeking to return to the office — chose Reynolds to be his running mate. They were elected on a ticket that same year.

Caufield said Reynolds’ rise as lieutenant governor came at an interesting time in national politics, when the Republican Party in particular was reimagining its definition of electability. In 2008, then-Sen. John McCain chose Sarah Palin, a little-known governor from Alaska, as his vice presidential running mate.

“It was an interesting niche at the time. I think a lot of people just didn’t take these women seriously,” Caufield said. “And Kim Reynolds has really stepped out of that mold and has really created a genuine space for herself in Iowa politics, which is remarkable.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds and former President Trump sit together during a meeting at the White House.
Gov. Kim Reynolds and former President Trump listen during a meeting at the White House in June 2019. (Evan Vucci/AP)

In 2017, Branstad resigned to become the U.S. ambassador to China under the Trump administration. Reynolds’ ascension made her the first woman to serve as Iowa governor. A year later, she gained the distinction of also being the first woman elected to the role.

Reynolds is popular in the state. Recent polling by The Des Moines Register shows a majority of Iowa residents say they approve of how she is doing her job as governor. She visits Iowa’s 99 counties every year, a choice that has given her a unique ability to tap into the needs of her constituents, said Linda Upmeyer, a co-chair of the Republican Party of Iowa and a former state lawmaker who was the first woman to serve as speaker of the Iowa House.

“Every day, all day, people are coming into her office or she’s going out into their workplace,” Upmeyer said of the governor’s calendar. “She’s hearing their stories. She’s hearing what works. She’s hearing what doesn’t work.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds laughs while conversing with Jeff Kaufmann and the Iowa State Fair.
Gov. Kim Reynolds talks with Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann at the the Iowa State Fair in August 2019. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

In her first year as governor, Reynolds prioritized a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons who complete their sentences. The legislation has not advanced because of opposition from her own party but she has signed an executive order in the meantime.

It’s a policy that Reynolds talked about when discussing second chances. She was arrested for drunken driving in 1999 and 2000 and has talked about the experience publicly through the lens of sobriety.  

Reynolds also earned a bachelor’s degree through night school and online classes when she was lieutenant governor, an experience that has also shaped how she talks about secondary education and apprenticeships.

Caufield said Reynolds is somewhere in the middle of the rift between supporters of former President Donald Trump and those within the Republican Party who are trying to keep their distance. In late January, Reynolds told a local news television station that Biden was “legitimately elected” but also added: “I do believe though that there are enough concerns about the integrity of the election process, so I think it benefits everybody to take a look at some of these things that were questioned and put them to bed or just find the answers.”

Many of the Republican Party’s 2024 hopefuls will be courting Reynolds in the future as they travel to the state to try to win over voters and anyone whose endorsement could sway them. Trump indicated last weekend that he is likely to make another bid for the presidency, as well.

Caufield said how Reynolds manages Trump’s role in their shared party will be interesting to watch.

“When you think about the core group of elected Republicans who have been kind of the ‘ride or die’ Trump base, Kim Reynolds is not among them,” she said. “In terms of a balancing act, she has kind of stayed above the fray of this divide. She’s navigated it, I think, very skillfully.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Building stronger together.

A new model for nonprofit journalism: For our readers. For our team. For our community.

Become a member

Sign up for our newsletter

Up Next

President Biden waves as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.

Politics

What will Biden say in the State of the Union address? Here’s what The 19th is watching.

Inflation, abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, voting, the Supreme Court and more may all come up as the president speaks more than a year into his administration.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram