The secret
I wonder how big Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds inner circle was. Whatever the size, the circle never broke. The secret remained a secret. No reporter scooped the announcement of the governor’s choice of state Senator Chris Cournoyer to serve as lieutenant governor.
That was impressive.
No Scoop — Frustrating, too, for selfish reasons. In 2010 I was able to break the news that Terry Branstad — the former Iowa Republican governor who became his party’s nominee for governor again to face Chet Culver, the incumbent Democratic governor — had chosen state Senator Kim Reynolds to serve as his running mate.
No scoop this time for any reporter. We didn’t learn that Cournoyer would join the Reynolds administration until she followed the governor into her office Monday morning for the announcement.
Here is my extended look at the day that Cournoyer became the state’s #2 and made history in the process. This was the first time that Iowa had a woman serving as governor and another woman serving as lieutenant governor.
Watch Inside Iowa Politics here.
Right Pick? — Some of Iowa MAGA are not thrilled with Reynolds’ pick of Cournoyer.
They remember that Reynolds backed Ron DeSantis (not Trump) in the Iowa Caucuses. Cournoyer supported Nikki Haley (not Trump).
The Six — Governor Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate sat at the head of the table Tuesday when the state’s six presidential electors made 2024’s Iowa presidential election results official. That gave Donald Trump his third consecutive general election win in Iowa.
Open for Business — Should we celebrate that Congress minimally did its job and avoided a partial shutdown of the federal government? Yet another temporary spending plan. This one expires in March.
In January, Republicans will control both chambers of Congress and have Donald Trump back in the White House. Let’s see how the budget process goes then.
Very Familiar — The Des Moines Register selected 15 people to watch in 2025. One looked very familiar:)
Honoring Heroes — I met two boys this month. One was an eighth grader, and the other was a sixth grader. They were impressive and humble. They stood up before several dozen people and honored heroes.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.
The one thing that makes this short term budget extension fine with me is Trump is going to own blowing the budget if he trys to give all those tax cuts tothe wealthy. The Republican Party that remains, will have to answer for whatever they do in the house and Senate the next election, because they can't say it's Biden's fault for clearing the way for Trump to do it; They have to blow the budget ceiling all on there own! Trump won't be there to threaten congress beyond the next off year election, and even then, who do you suppose will make it past the primary if they toast veteran benefits, Social Security, and safety nets of all kinds to make up for the trillions going to give tax breaks to billionaires! The facts seem to support Trump hasn't had a plan ever in his administration that was formulated with any probability of working and this time he has even less likelyhood he will "Make America Great Again" and could send the country into a deep, dark ressession. It certainly looks to me that he might just be the first President to be impeached during two different administrations and likely be thrown out this time! A glitter of hope maybe, but it is something to at least give us something positive to think about!
Pretty sure our governor made sure she appointed someone who will appoint her to the Senate if and when a vacancy occurs. If it happens, the governor will resign, the lieutenant governor will accede to the governorship and appoint the then-former governor to the Senate. Good politicians (or politicians with good advisors) always think a step or two down the road.
And there were probably no press leaks because our governor wasn't concerned with floating trial balloons via a well-placed tip through "a source close to the situation" to an enterprising reporter.
Silly question I have....I just wonder if our new lieutenant governor is related to Montreal Canadiens ice hockey legend Ivan Cournoyer. You don't run across that surname every day, at least not in the non-French speaking world. Old Habs fan here.