There was a changing of the guard in Des Moines Wednesday morning. Kim Reynolds was sworn in as Iowa's next governor, becoming the state's first woman to hold the job.
She is taking over for Terry Branstad, the longest serving governor in the nation's history. The 57-year-old former rural county clerk took the oath of office Wednesday in a ceremony at the Iowa Capitol. Branstad was the nation's longest-serving governor. He is now the U-S ambassador to China.
Reynolds will hold the position through January 2019, when Branstad's term would have ended. She's expected to launch a gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
Reynolds said her top priorities will be restructuring the state's tax code, renewing the state's energy policy and education.
"It won't be easy," she said, "but I know that I won't be doing this alone."
Reynolds told the crowd, "I am an Iowan through and through," and that as the first woman to hold the office of Iowa Governor it, "is both humbling and exciting. I will do my best to serve as a role model for those who follow."
She said she will leave it to the historians to make note of the gender milestone in state politics because she said there is far more to this. She said when people look back years from now she wants them to think, "Oh, and by the way, she was also Iowa's first woman governor."