Iowa has made history. The state has confirmed an all-female showdown in November for the governor’s office. Kim Reynolds, the incumbent, will be taking on Deidre DeJear for Iowa’s top office in the general elections. This is the first time two women will be on the ballot for Iowa’s governor elections.

Both Reynolds and DeJear went unopposed in Tuesday’s primary elections in Iowa. Other candidates were seen facing fierce competition for congressional and Senate seats.

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Reynolds, who was previously the lieutenant governor of Iowa, was pulled up to the office after former United States President Donald Trump nominated then-governor Terry Branstad as the US envoy to China. Reynolds was then elected for a full term in the 2018 Iowa midterms.

This is the second time DeJear, who was a campaign organizer for President Barack Obama, has run statewide, according to Associated Press.

In 2018, she became the first Black candidate to win a major party nomination for a statewide office in Iowa when she became the Democratic nominee against Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. She was defeated in the general election. 

The Trump factor

Donald Trump’s involvement in the US political system has been a major sore point between the two candidates. DeJear said in a campaign statement in April that Reynolds was a “Trump yes-woman”. She added that Reynolds has always prioritised the needs of Trump over what was best for Iowa.

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Trump later endorsed Reynold’s bid for the governor’s office of Iowa. “It is an honor to have his support,” she responded in a social media post.

Reynolds’ campaign has brought in $6 million and had $4.98 million in her campaign account to spend, according to reports from Associated Press citing a May campaign finance report.

DeJear, on the other hand, had a smaller pool of resources. She managed to raise more than $748,000 and had over $381,000 to spend.