Wed. Dec 25th, 2024

Iowa Sen. Chris Cournoyer was appointed as the lieutenant governor by Gov. Kim Reynolds in a Dec. 16, 2024 announcement at the Iowa State Capitol. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Gov. Kim Reynolds named Sen. Chris Cournoyer as her new lieutenant governor Monday, filling the role that was left open since former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg resigned from the position in September.

The governor said Cournoyer, a LeClaire Republican who has served as a state senator since 2019, was her choice after months of consideration because of her work on issues like education and technology.

“Chris’ qualifications go far beyond an impressive resume,” Reynolds said at the news conference held in the governor’s office Monday. “In fact, I believe they get to the heart … of what it takes to be a lieutenant governor. First and foremost, she’s someone that Iowans can trust to serve as governor if I were ever unable to. I have complete confidence in her character, her judgment and her ability. It’s these same qualities that also make ideally suited to serve as a member of my team.”

Cournoyer will serve as Reynolds’ second-in-command for the remainder of the governor’s current term of office, until 2026 — the time of the next Iowa gubernatorial election.

Alongside her role in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor is also assigned duties by the governor. For Gregg, that meant initiatives like the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.

Gregg, who became the Iowa Bankers Association’s president and CEO in September after resigning as lieutenant governor, said that he chose to leave public office to spend more time with his family. He had held the position since Reynolds took office in 2017 after former Gov. Terry Branstad vacated the governor seat to serve as U.S. ambassador to China during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office.

When Gregg was appointed to serve as the state’s executive second-in-command by Reynolds in May 2017, his role was limited. Former Attorney General Tom Miller issued a legal opinion in 2017 that Reynolds had technically not vacated her position as Branstad’s lieutenant governor when she ascended to the governorship, meaning that she could not formally appoint her own lieutenant governor. Gregg did not officially take the position until he and Reynolds won reelection in 2018.

Reynolds did not face the same challenges appointing a person to fill Gregg’s position in 2024, as Reynolds, who won reelection in 2022, has the power as governor to fill the vacancy for the remainder of her term. Additionally, Iowans approved a constitutional amendment in the 2024 general election that changed language in the Iowa State Constitution to clarify that a vacancy is created in the lieutenant governor’s position when a lieutenant governor takes the position of governor.

The largest difference in being officially appointed to the lieutenant governor’s position lies in the gubernatorial line of succession. When Gregg held the position unofficially prior to the 2018 election, then-Senate president Jack Whitver would have become governor if Reynolds vacated the governor’s office at that time. For the past few months without a sitting lieutenant governor, Senate president Amy Sinclair has been next in line to serve as Iowa governor.

This story is developing and will update.

By