Kim Reynolds

On March 26, 2020, Reynolds expanded upon previous Covid-19 disaster proclamations to halt non-essential surgeries and dental procedures. The following day her office asserted: "[The] Proclamation suspends all nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures until April 16th, that includes surgical abortion procedures".

As of April 3, 2020, Reynolds refuses to implement stay-at-home order, claiming Dr. Anthony Fauci "doesn't have all the facts".

In April 2020, Reynolds through Ashton Kutcher's good friend Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith teamed with TestUtah to increase the testing rate of COVID-19 cases in Iowa with Nomi Health during the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic. Cerro Gordo residents, in particular, have reached out to be tested but have been told to wait it out, and that there aren’t enough tests available.

Reynolds began her first full term on January 18, 2019.

On March 27, 2019, Reynolds signed a bill into law requiring public universities to protect the "fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression."

In 2018, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), Reynolds described same-sex marriage as a "settled" issue and said that she did not consider herself obligated to follow the Iowa Republican Party platform provision against same-sex marriage.

In May 2018, Reynolds signed a bill to revamp Iowa's energy efficiency policies. Also in May 2018, Reynolds signed a fetal heartbeat bill that the Des Moines Register referred to as "the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation." In January 2019, the law was struck down by an Iowa state judge, who said it was unconstitutional.

Reynolds won the Republican nomination for Governor and defeated Democrat Fred Hubbell and Libertarian Jake Porter in the general election on November 6, 2018. Reynolds made history as the first woman elected Governor of Iowa. While polls showed that she was trailing Hubbell, she defeated him, 50.3%-47.5%.

On May 24, 2017, Reynolds became governor of Iowa upon the resignation of Governor Terry Branstad, who stepped down to become the new United States Ambassador to China. Reynolds is the first female governor of Iowa.

Reynolds's elevation to the governorship created a vacancy in the office of the lieutenant governor, and reports indicated that her selection of a lieutenant governor could be challenged in the Iowa Supreme Court. An opinion from the Iowa attorney general indicated that "an individual promoted from lieutenant governor to governor, as was Reynolds, [did] not have the authority to appoint a new lieutenant governor. On May 25, 2017, Reynolds announced that Iowa Public Defender Adam Gregg would serve as acting lieutenant governor; to avoid litigation, the Reynolds administration stated that Gregg "[would] not hold the official position of lieutenant governor" and would not succeed Reynolds in the event of her inability to serve as governor.

In June 2017, Reynolds stated that she would seek a full term as Governor of Iowa in the 2018 election.

Reynolds was elected Chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) in July 2015.

Reynolds was the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2011 until 2017. Unlike Lieutenant Governors in many other states, Reynolds had specific roles, including co-chairing the Governor's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Advisory Council, co-chairing the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress board, co-chairing the Military Children Education Coalition and serving as Gov. Branstad's representative on the board of the Iowa State Fair.

On June 25, 2010, Republican gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad publicly proposed Reynolds for Lieutenant Governor. The next day, she received the Republican nomination from the 2010 Republican State Convention. On November 2, 2010, the Branstad/Reynolds ticket won the general election. Reynolds resigned from her Senate seat on November 12, 2010 to "focus solely on assisting Gov. (Terry) Branstad’s transition team."

Reynolds served four terms as the Clarke County Treasurer before being elected on November 4, 2008 to represent the 48th district in the Iowa Senate, defeating Ruth Smith (D) and Rodney Schmidt (I). In the Senate, she was a member of five committees: Economic Growth, Environment & Energy Independence, Local Government (ranking member), Rebuild Iowa, Transportation, and Appropriations Subcommittee (Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee). In 2010, Reynolds endorsed a ban on same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Reynolds was twice charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, first in 1999 and again in 2000. The 2000 case was originally charged as a Second Offense OWI, but eventually reduced to First Offense OWI. Reynolds was sentenced to pay a $1,500 fine and serve 12 months of informal probation. A related open container charge was dropped entirely. In 2017, Reynolds stated that she sought inpatient treatment for alcoholism following her second arrest and that she had been sober for nearly 17 years.

Reynolds married Kevin Reynolds in 1982. As of 2018, the Reynoldses have three daughters (Jennifer, Nicole and Jessica) and nine grandchildren.

Reynolds was born Kimberly Kay Strawn in St. Charles, Iowa. She attended high school at the Interstate 35 Community School District and graduated in 1977.

Strawn attended Northwest Missouri State University, for one semester (Fall 1977) where she took classes in business, consumer sciences and clothing sales and design. She dropped out of college after one semester. She later took classes at Southeastern Community College in the late 1980s, and then took accounting classes at Southwestern Community College between 1992 and 1995. She did not earn a degree from any of these institutions. Kim began classes in 2012 and December 2016, Reynolds received a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree from Iowa State University.

Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn, born August 4, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 43rd and current Governor of Iowa since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first female Governor of Iowa. Reynolds previously served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2011 to 2017. Before she was elected Lieutenant Governor, Reynolds served as Clarke County Treasurer for four terms and then served in the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011. Reynolds became Governor of Iowa in May 2017 when her predecessor, Terry Branstad, stepped down to become United States Ambassador to China. In May 2018, Reynolds signed a bill that scaled back energy efficiency programs and a bill that the Des Moines Register referred to as "the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation." Reynolds won a full term as governor in the 2018 gubernatorial election.