Gov. Kim Reynolds secures second term, promises policies to let Iowans 'keep more of your money'

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds cruised to reelection, securing her second full term in office in a race where she held large leads in polling and fundraising throughout.

Unlike Reynolds’ campaign four years ago, when she edged Democrat Fred Hubbell in a closely contested race that saw record-breaking spending, analysts never considered this year’s race against Deidre DeJear to be close. Polls showed Reynolds holding a strong lead from the early stages, and she was a fundraising powerhouse, raising more than twice DeJear’s total during 2022. The race was called for Reynolds moments after polls closed.

"Our message for you tonight is this: We are not stopping. We are not slowing down," Reynolds told a cheering crowd of supporters at the Downtown Des Moines Hilton ballroom Tuesday. "I am so excited to get back to work and to lay out a bold, conservative agenda and to follow through with what we say we're going to do."

DeJear, who unsuccessfully ran for Iowa secretary of state in 2018, had hoped to build on a message of unity and investment in Iowa, highlighting controversial policies Reynolds had adopted over the past four years regarding education and abortion. But polling showed that she struggled to gain enough traction and name recognition down the stretch.

"For this specific campaign, we came up short with the number" of votes, DeJear told a group of Democratic supporters at Hotel Fort Des Moines Tuesday night. "I say we won as it relates to pride."

Unofficial results showed Reynolds leading DeJear by 19 percentage points as of Wednesday morning. Reynolds had received more than 58% of the vote while DeJear had received just under 40%.

Libertarian Rick Stewart was the third candidate in the race. He was looking for enough votes to qualify Libertarians for major party status for the first time since they lost it in 2018, which would give the party the ability to hold state-run primary elections and for the party to appear as an option on voter registration forms.

To do so, he would need to reach 2% of the vote. According to unofficial results Wednesday morning, it appeared Stewart would hit that mark.

Reynolds supporter: 'I wasn't surprised. But I was happy.'

When Fox News announced Reynolds’ victory soon after 8 p.m. Tuesday, the crowd at the Republican Party of Iowa's election night party at the Hilton erupted in cheers.

Travis Klinefelter, a 44-year-old travel nurse from Dubuque, said he had been monitoring the results as they came in, even though Reynolds was projected to easily win.

"We never take anything for granted," he said. "I wasn't surprised. But I was happy."

Klinefelter attended with his friend Cindy Hoffman, of Independence. Both wore jerseys that said "Reynolds Gregg 22" on the back. During Tuesday's event, Klinefelter showed off the spot on his back where Reynolds had signed the shirt with black marker. Hoffman had the same signature on the bill of her red "Keep Iowa Great" hat.

More: Making Joe Biden her foil, Gov. Kim Reynolds seeks to lead a ‘red wave’ in Iowa. Can she?

The governor's first full term saw her build a national profile as she signed multiple tax cut packages, championed one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country and led a high-profile resistance to stay-at-home orders and mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. She announced her reelection campaign on the heels of her nationally televised response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, a speech that raised her national profile.

Reynolds, 63, focused her campaign message heavily on that record, and repeatedly contrasted Iowa’s Republican-led policies with those that national Democrats have passed in Washington.

She is the vice chair of the Republican Governors Association. In a statement Tuesday night, the association's co-chairs, Govs. Doug Ducey of Arizona and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska congratulated her on her victory.

"From cutting taxes, prioritizing job growth and fully supporting law enforcement, Reynolds represents the future of the Republican Party, and we are grateful for her leadership on behalf of Iowa families," the statement said.

More:Statewide races: Find county-by-county results for Iowa governor, U.S. Senate and more

What will Reynolds' policies be in her second term?

Reynolds will enter her second full term as Iowa’s governor with a Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature. Republicans have held trifecta control of Iowa’s government ever since she succeeded former Gov. Terry Branstad in 2017.

She has promised to continue working to cut taxes and vowed to continue her fight in the Legislature for a “school choice” package that would use taxpayer funding to help students switch from public school to private school. The controversial proposal has failed to pass the past two years due to a lack of support from House Republicans.

During her victory speech, Reynolds praised the resiliency and unity of Iowans in the face of challenges over the past four years. Discussing her next term, she said Iowa will "exceed expectations" and that "the best is yet to come."

"I can promise you, it is going to be an agenda where you keep more of your money, where our schools are thriving and all parents have a choice, where your government works for you ― not the other way around," she said.

Reynolds spent the final days of the campaign traveling the state on a bus tour, using her popularity to champion her colleagues further down on the ticket. She also left Iowa to visit Minnesota just over a week before the election, appearing with Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen. Jensen lost that race to Democratic incumbent Gov. Tim Walz.

Though she traveled extensively in the final few weeks, Reynolds avoided many risks during her campaign. She accepted only one debate against DeJear after doing three versus Hubbell four years ago. And she also avoided direct questions from media outlets in the final months of the campaign, eschewing news conferences and largely declining to take questions at events.

More:Metro Des Moines: Find election results for Polk, Dallas, Warren, Story counties and more

DeJear highlighted education funding, health care, abortion rights

DeJear, a 36-year-old entrepreneur and activist, has been a rising star in the Democratic Party. She would have been the nation's first Black female governor if elected.

Though she traveled throughout the state, DeJear's campaign struggled to match Reynolds' mammoth fundraising totals, and she also lagged far behind in name recognition, even among Democrats, according to polling.

More: Can Gov. Kim Reynolds be defeated? Why underdog Democrat Deidre DeJear believes she can win

DeJear's message on the trail focused heavily on boosting investment to areas she said are underfunded, from public schools to mental health care. DeJear also vocally supported abortion rights and increasing access to health care services.

Speaking Tuesday night, DeJear thanked her supporters and urged them not to give up.

"They told us that fighting for public schools, we were unreasonable in that fight. They told us when it came down to fight for reproductive rights, we were unreasonable in that fight. They told us when it came down to fighting for things so basic as ensuring that individuals only have to work one job to make ends meet, they told us we were unreasonable in that time," she said. "Needless to say, the reason why I'm telling you that is because those are reasonable fights."

The Des Moines Register's Tyler Jett, Courtney Crowder and Amanda Tugade contributed to this report.

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected], at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa governor race results: Gov. Kim Reynolds wins election