“It was a huge surprise,” said state Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge.

He said there was no indication the governor would not run again.

“I’m like everybody else – I had no idea,” added state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City.

The lawmakers serving Webster County praised her leadership.

“She was an unbelievably good leader for the state,” Sexton said. “Her leadership during COVID was outstanding. She did the best she could to keep the state open and prevent small businesses from getting hurt.”

State Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, said she believes Reynolds has “done a lot of great things to move Iowa forward.”

Kraayenbrink, Meyer and Sexton all agreed that Reynolds played a key role in implementing tax reforms that reduced Iowa’s income tax rate to 3.6 percent.

The senator said Reynolds led the way on changing collective bargaining rules for public employees and implementing Education Savings Accounts which give families state money to be used to pay for tuition at private schools.

Meyer said Reynolds made it possible to pass her legislation requiring drivers to use electronic devices in hands-free mode. She said the governor mentioned the bill during her Condition of the State Address in January, and that provided the extra boost to get it through the Senate and House of Representatives. Reynolds signed the bill into law on April 2.

Meyer added that Reynolds supported all of her bills aimed at increasing access to health care.

“She has worked with us and supported the mental health bills and medical tort reform,” the lawmaker said.

Meyer and Kraayenbrink said they do not believe Reynolds’ announcement will impact the remaining weeks of this year’s legislative session.

“She’s going to do what she’s done every day, which is to fight for the people of Iowa,” Kraayenbrink said.

However, Sexton said he has some concern about what Reynolds’ announcement will mean for the session.

“I wonder what it does for the last three weeks of the legislative session,” he said. “I don’t know why she didn’t wait until we were out of there and back home before making this announcement. My gut tells me this is going to throw a wrench into what we’re trying to do in the last three weeks of the session.”

Kraayenbrink said he believes Reynolds’s decision will “bring out a pretty serious primary group” of candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor.