Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Delivering GOP's State of the Union Response

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) will deliver the GOP’s response to President Biden’s State of the Union address (SOTU), Republican leaders announced on Tuesday.

Her remarks will follow Biden’s SOTU address, which takes place Tuesday, March 1.

“She handled COVID by choosing freedom over lockdowns and personal responsibility over mandates – leading to real economic recovery from the pandemic,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said of Reynolds, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) praised the governor for combating the Chinese coronavirus “without forgetting common sense and protected Iowans’ health and their rights at the same time.”

“She’s defended kids and parents with laws that have kept students in classrooms and woke propaganda out. She has even taken action to address our border crisis while the Biden Administration makes it worse. I am thrilled the American people will hear directly from Gov. Reynolds. The President and his team should take notes,” McConnell said in a statement.

McCarthy also praised her for offsetting D.C.’s “disastrous decision-making” by offering “real leadership” in her state.

“She kept kids in school and critical race theory out. And she stood tall for election integrity when Speaker Pelosi tried to steal a congressional seat from Iowans. While Democrats in Washington have failed, Republicans across the country are stepping up – and America will be better off hearing Governor Reynolds’ Iowa story,” he added.

Indeed, Reynolds has taken bold action throughout Biden’s first year in office. In March, Reynolds signed legislation establishing stronger election integrity measures, offering “consistent parameters” for Election Day and curbing mail-in voting. 

She stood firm against vaccine mandates over the course of the last year, vowing to take a stand against them — and that was prior to Biden announcing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate, which the Supreme Court struck down in January:

We are taking immediate legal action to challenge the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate. https://t.co/p924WK9DcR

— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) November 4, 2021

In May 2021, Reynolds announced the state would stop participating in pandemic-related federal unemployment benefit programs due to the workforce shortage, and that same month, she signed legislation ending mask mandates on schoolchildren across the state. 

“The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their child’s education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decisions,” Reynolds said at the time. 

The following month, Reynolds signed a bill into law banning the use of the Marxist tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) from being used in schools. 

“Critical Race Theory is about labels and stereotypes, not education,” she said, noting that it “teaches kids that we should judge others based on race, gender or sexual identity, rather than the content of someone’s character.”

“I am proud to have worked with the legislature to promote learning, not discriminatory indoctrination,” she added. 

That same month, she switched directions, focusing on protections for law enforcement in the wake of the defund the police movement:

In Iowa, we Back the Blue. Proud to sign the “Back the Blue Act” this morning at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy! pic.twitter.com/pX0mYgLwsu

— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) June 17, 2021

What is more, last year, Reynolds also denied the Biden’s administration’s attempts to fly Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) into her state, concluding it is “not our problem.”

“Republican Governors across America are leading the charge in defending liberty and securing unmatched economic prosperity in our states,” Reynolds said in a statement upon the announcement of her delivering the GOP’s response to Biden’s SOTU address.

“The Biden Administration is governing from the far-left, ignoring the problems of working-class Americans while pushing an agenda that stifles free speech, free thought, and economic freedom,” she continued. 

“The American people have had enough, but there is an alternative and that’s what I look forward to sharing on Tuesday evening,” the Republican governor added.

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