Gov. Kim Reynolds remains the most unpopular governor in America, according to the latest poll by Morning Consult. Reynolds is once again the only governor whose disapproval rating is higher than their approval rating in the opinion research firm’s quarterly survey of the approval ratings of governors.
Reynolds has ranked the least popular governor in every Morning Consult tracking poll for over two years.
“Reynolds is still the most unpopular: With the highest disapproval rating of any U.S. governor (49%), Kim Reynolds of Iowa remains America’s most unpopular governor for the sixth quarter in a row,” Morning Consult said an summary of the poll findings. “The Republican, who announced in April that she will not seek re-election next year, is the only governor with a net negative approval rating.”
Reynolds’ decision not to run for reelection, which she announced in early April, did nothing to improve her standing in the poll of Iowans. Her disapproval rating in the previous Morning Consult poll was also 49 percent.
Although these polls indicate Reynolds’ performance as governor has been notably unpopular with many Iowans since the first quarter (January-March) of 2023, the governor enjoyed solid support from other elected Republicans in the state until recently. But that changed in June after Reynolds vetoed a bill that would have put new limitations on the ability of companies to use eminent domain to seize land for pipelines transporting hazardous liquids.
The bill, HF 639, was passed at the end of this year’s legislative session after Republicans worried about Summit Carbon Solutions’ use eminent domain in western Iowa, for its 2,500-mile-long pipeline project that would carry carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage facility in North Dakota, joined with all their Democratic colleagues to overcome the opposition of Republican Senate leaders and the governor.
“Kim Reynolds has failed the state of Iowa,” Republican Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a strong supporter of the bill, told Radio Iowa after the governor’s veto. “Kim Reynolds has soiled her legacy and her legacy is now spitting in the face of landowners and being Bruce Rastetter’s errand girl.”
Rastetter, a dominant figure in Iowa agribusiness and a major donor to the Iowa Republicans, is the founder of Summit Carbon Solutions.
“I vow today to work against and kill every single bill she comes up with because I no longer trust her judgement,” Kaufmann, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, swore.
Speaker Pat Grassley immediately called for a special session of the Iowa Legislature to override the governor’s veto of HF 639. It takes the approval of two-thirds of each chamber of the legislature to convene a special session. The last time the Iowa Legislature met to override a veto was in 2006.
Grassley announced on June 17 he had secured enough support from House members for the special session. The Senate, whose Republican leaders have always opposed bills imposing new restrictions on companies using eminent domain, hasn’t joined the House.
Speaking to reporters last week, Reynolds was asked about the House Republicans’ reaction to her veto. According to the governor, any division or difficulty caused by her veto will be resolved before the next legislative session, as her Republican critics have time to calm down.
“Time and separation does a lot of good,” she said. “Most importantly, I think all of us have the same goal, and that really is serving Iowans and making sure that we’re being impactful and we’re getting things done.”
“Iowans are so sick of their government not getting things done,” Reynolds, who has been governor since May 2017 and has had Republican majorities controlling the legislature for her entire tenure, added.
