By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s worked closely for two decades with one of the four Republicans running to replace her as governor, but she does not plan to endorse a GOP candidate before next June’s Primary. “I’m not going to get involved in the primary. We haven’t had one for a long time, so I think it’s really important that, you know, they get out there and make their case,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds announced in April that she would not seek re-election in 2026. Pastor Brad Sherman of Williamsburg and State Representative Eddie Andrews of Johnston have been campaigning for governor for several months. Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen was working for Governor Reynolds until late August, when he resigned to run for governor. And just this week Congressman Randy Feenstra formally kicked off his campaign for governor.

“I’ve known Randy for a long, long time,” Reynolds said. “We actually served in county government together. We were both county treasurers and we both decided to run for the state senate. We ran in 2008 and, if you remember, there was not a lot of Republicans that won in 2008.”

Reynolds left the state senate after she was elected lieutenant governor in 2010. Reynolds, who has been governor since mid-2017, told reporters yesterday that she and Feenstra share “the same philosophy” when it comes to tax policy. “Randy was the one that I worked in the state senate for the first big property tax bill that we were able to pass in 2018,” Reynolds said.

Feenstra was chairman of the Iowa Senate’s tax writing committee at the time. He defeated Congressman Steve King in the 2020 GOP Primary and has served in the U.S. House since 2021.

Reynolds said once GOP Primary voters choose a nominee for governor, she’ll “do everything I can” to help them win next November. “I don’t want to see all the stuff that I’ve done be undone,” Reynolds said. “…I’m hoping the next governor takes what we’ve done and knocks it out of the park and continues to keep this state moving forward.”

Reynolds made her comments yesterday after a roundtable discussion about property taxes. The event was held in Hull, which is Feenstra’s hometown.

Reynolds took over as governor when Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China. She won election to a full four-year term in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.