Des Moines, Iowa — It would appear that Iowa Governor Terry Branstad will be Ambassador to China during the Trump Administration, according to a spokesman.
Branstad, at the age of 70, is the longest serving Governor in the nation’s history, serving four terms in office from the mid-80’s to 1999, and another term-and-a-half since being elected in 2011.
Branstad and his wife, Chris, spent an hour meeting with President-Elect Trump at his New York Headquarters on Tuesday, but has denied that the Ambassadorship was offered since then.
Branstad’s appointment would have to be approved by the United States Senate sometime after Trump’s January 20th Inauguration.
If, as expected, Governor Branstad resigns his position to take the China post, he will be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds. The 57-year old Reynolds has been serving beside Branstad since his election in 2011. She would then hold the Governor’s office until Branstad’s term ends in early 2019. For some time Reynolds has been hinting that she would run for Governor on her own in 2018, should Branstad not seek another term.
Entering the 2018 gubernatorial race as an incumbent would give Reynolds a substantial advantage in that contest.
