DES MOINES – “The Iowa Federation of Republican Women looks to the future with optimism and enthusiasm as we congratulate both the first female governor of Iowa and the longest-serving governor in the nation on their historic service to our great state,” said Gwen Ecklund, IowaFRW president. Earlier today, Gov. Terry Branstad resigned as Iowa governor after six terms and was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China, followed by the swearing-in of new Gov. Kim Reynolds, a long-time IowaFRW member and the first female to serve as governor of Iowa.

“We see once again that the GOP of the past, present and future is the party of and for women,” Ecklund said. “From the Republican-led Suffrage movement nearly 100 years ago – which made it possible for women to vote – to this very day, with the swearing-in of our first woman governor of Iowa, Republicans have shattered glass ceilings.” Reynolds joins the ranks of other historically significant Iowa Republican women and IowaFRW members including U.S. Senator Joni Ernst and Iowa Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer.

The Iowa Federation of Republican Women (www.iowafrw.org), founded in 1939 in Tama County, is the premier organization for uniting the voices and values within the Republican Party, and is part of the National Federation of Republican Women, founded in 1938. The NFRW (www.nfrw.org) is the largest and most influential women’s political organization in the nation, proudly representing the party that first made it possible for women to vote in the U.S. and working to increase the effectiveness and relevance of women in the cause of good government. Its mission is to recruit and elect Republican candidates, promote the principles of the Republican Party, educate the public, and inform the media. 

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CONTACT: Lori Leonard Reyman, lsleonard23@gmail.com