Former House Speaker Linda Upmeyuer, Governor Kim Reynolds (center) and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst at event in Sioux Center on Sept. 10, 2026 (KSOU/Sioux County Radio photo)
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst joined Governor Kim Reynolds in Sioux Center last night at an Iowa GOP fundraiser, the last in a six-event series the party called the governor’s “legacy tour.”
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[KSOUlegacytour3] :05 :the tough issues.”
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(as said) “I hope that if Iowans remember anything about me it’s that I wasn’t afraid to take on the big issues,” Reynolds said, “the tough issues.”
Reynolds told the crowd that when she was a kid growing up in St. Charles, Iowa, she thought she’d grow up to be a teacher. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have the opportunity to serve Iowans in this capacity,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds, the first woman to be elected Iowa’s governor, announced in the spring of last year that she would not seek re-election. Senator Ernst, the first Iowa woman to be elected to federal office, met Reynolds when the two were county officials in southwest Iowa. “It’s not just a friend here today, gone tomorrow, but it is truly a lifetime of friendship and admiration that I have for this incredible woman who has made such a mark on Iowa that can never easily be erased,” Ernst said.
Iowa GOP co-chair Linda Upmeyer, the first women to be speaker of the Iowa House, was also at the event. Reynolds has been governor since May 24, 2017. That’s the day Governor Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China. The venue for last night’s fundraiser was the same spot Reynolds held a rally on November 5, 2018 — the day before she won her first four-year term as governor.
(By Carson Schubert, KSOU, Sioux Center)
