November 21, 2012: Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (second from left) helps cut the ribbon to open new US 20 between IA 4 and US 71. Also shown, center to right, are Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Rep. Steve King and Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino.
Today, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad becomes Ambassador Branstad, on his way to China. He has been governor for one-eighth of the state’s lifetime and over half of mine. It won’t be until early April 2026 that the latter part of that statement changes.* He’s the longest-serving governor of any state in U.S. history.
This historic day is, as has been noted quite often, the introduction of Iowa’s first female governor. (Maybe Branstad should tack that onto his list of victories against Democrats … but then, Iowa has not yet elected one.) It’s also historic because it’s so rare for Iowa to lose its governor before the term is up.
It’s only happened four times, in fact. Three of them were because the governor had been elected to the Senate; the fourth was when Gov. William Beardsley was killed in a car accident. But only once out of those four times did the lieutenant governor become governor with more than 60 days of the term remaining — and that was back in 1877. The rarity has contributed to the intrigue about whether Reynolds can appoint a second-in-command (and if she does, and someone sues, then the attorney general’s office is supposed to defend the state, but Tom Miller’s opinion is what created this legal cloud and he’s already backed out of defending a different state law he disagreed with).
It’s the end of an era, again, in Iowa politics, and it wouldn’t have happened without the 2016 presidential election. The butterflies work in mysterious ways.
*The Gazette said today would be his 8169th day as governor; my spreadsheet says 8167. I suspect it has to do with the counting method.