It's so obvious that Branstad has been grooming Reynolds as his successor since day one. She's the most active Iowa LG in years. Most people can't even name the state's LG, who literally does absolutely nothing. But she's ALWAYS coming with him to every major event, and she attracts large crowds herself.
She doesn't have much of a record, and she'll obviously have Branstad's record to run on if she does ascend. But Branstad's popularity has gone down the toilet here since he got reelected. Medicare privatization has been an absolute disaster for the state and now he's targeting union benefits for police officers. He's also been looking at closing the state's very last mental health facility in the state, which is a HUGE problem, given how many people need mental health services and can't get them here.
But Branstad's big support lies in the business community, and if Reynolds can get those types of voters to turn out, she'll be fine.
There's also the fact that others might want to seat. Rumor has it that Ron Corbett, mayor of Cedar Rapids, really wants it, and I don't know that he'd step aside if Reynolds got the nod.
Would Reynolds carry that base of his?
I don't see why she wouldn't. But I don't know, since she's always sort of been in his shadow, and she hasn't really done anything on her own.
