Gov. Kim Reynolds stunned the state by announcing last Friday that she would not seek re-election next year.

Who saw that coming? We’re guessing that outside of the Reynolds family only a handful of the governor’s closest advisers knew about that decision in advance. Legislators serving the local area were caught completely by surprise.

Already as many as eight candidates are lining up to run for the Republican nomination for governor.

But as the attention inevitably shifts to the horse race between those seeking to replace Reynolds, it would be wrong to forget the legacy of our current governor.

Iowans have become so accustomed to her being governor that it is easy to forget that she is the first woman to hold the state’s highest office.

She had a long track record of public service before becoming governor.

Reynolds served 16 years as the treasurer of Clarke County.

She was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008. Two years later, she was elected lieutenant governor when Gov. Terry Branstad returned to office.

She became governor in May 2017 after Branstad resigned to become the United States’s ambassador to China.

Reynolds was elected to her first full term in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.

As governor, she was very active in working to cut income taxes. It was a years-long effort that resulted in Iowa’s current flat tax rate of 3.8 percent

Reynolds also took the lead in some more controversial efforts, such as changing the once widely respected method of selecting judges in Iowa.

Regardless of what one thought of her positions on issues, what seems indisputable is her dedication to Iowa.

At the end of all the political controversies, that is what Reynodls should be remembered for.