Statewide Iowa — A proposed constitutional amendment on this year’s Iowa ballot would clarify the line of succession at the top of state government.
Seven years ago, Kim Reynolds became governor when Terry Branstad resigned, but Iowa’s attorney general at the time said his reading of the constitution indicated Reynolds was becoming acting governor and didn’t have the power to select a new lieutenant governor. State Treasurer Roby Smith was a state senator the following year, touting the proposal to give Iowa governors in similar situations authority to name a new lieutenant governor.
Mary Wolfe of Clinton was a member of the Iowa House who raised concerns in 2022 about the proposed amendment that Iowa voters are seeing on their 2024 ballots.
But Wolfe and other Democrats say the proposed amendment is flawed. They say the House and Senate should vote to confirm a lieutenant governor picked by a new governor who takes over in the middle of an elected governor’s term. Bill Brauch is chairman of Polk County Democrats.
Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann supports the amendment.
Election Day is NEXT Tuesday.
