DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Sen. Chris Cournoyer will serve as Iowa's next lieutenant governor, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced at the Iowa State Capitol Monday.
"She's someone that Iowans can trust to serve as governor if I were ever unable to," Reynolds said. "I have complete confidence in her character, her judgement and her ability."
Cournoyer, who currently represents District 35, is a small business owner and a substitute teacher, according to her profile on the Iowa Senate Republicans website.
The senator graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in computer science and went on to become an independent website designer and developer, while raising her four kids. She was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018, where she chaired the Education Budget Committee and was vice chair of the State Government Committee.
Reynolds praised Cournoyer for her extensive resume and her commitment to innovation.
"It's exciting to think about all of the ways that we can utilize Chris' experience in her new role," Reynolds said. "Here's a working mother who has known the joys and challenges of raising children while being in the workforce and owning a business, a computer science major who was thinking about optimizing computers for user experience in the late 90s, and a woman who then went on to drive innovation her entire working life."
Reynolds also highlighted Cournoyer's public service as a senator and a school board member in Pleasant Valley, saying she is a "doer."
"Her first instinct isn't just to wonder why something isn't working right or to complain, it's actually to get in there and fix the problem herself," Reynolds said. "She takes responsibility, she gets her hands dirty and she does the work."
Cournoyer was immediately sworn in by Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen following Reynolds' announcement.
"I never planned on entering public office, let alone imagined that I would ever be second in line to Iowa's succession," she said. "In other words, this is a humbling responsibility for me, and Iowans can be confident that I will always approach it with the seriousness that it deserves."
Cournoyer replaces former Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, who resigned from the role back in September in order to spend more time with his family.
Gregg served as lieutenant governor for more than six years after Reynolds appointed him to the role in 2017. Together, Reynolds and Gregg won two full terms to office: 2018 and 2022.
In the absence of a lieutenant governor, Iowa law dictates the sitting governor must appoint someone to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. Reynolds, who is up for reelection in 2026, will likely be joined by Cournoyer on the ballot if she chooses to run again.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.