Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver GOP rebuttal to State of the Union. Who is she?

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ will enter the national spotlight Tuesday when she delivers the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union.

That spot is often reserved for politics’ rising stars, the candidates and officeholders the major political parties want to showcase to a national audience. It will be the biggest stage yet for Reynolds, who took office in 2017 as the first female governor of Iowa.

Like other governors, Reynolds has gotten some national attention in the last two years because of her response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But she’s preparing for a 2022 re-election campaign that could be in for a boost from the high-profile national spot.

Learn more: From Ukraine to historic Supreme Court nominee: 5 things to watch for in Biden's State of the Union address

Here is what to know about the Iowa governor.

Who is Kim Reynolds?

In 2017, Reynolds became the first woman to lead Iowa when then-Gov. Terry Brandstad resigned for a post in President Donald Trump’s administration. Reynolds had run alongside Brandstad and served as lieutenant governor in his administration after a stint in the Iowa legislature.

She was elected to serve her own term in 2018, and polling shows she has remained popular within her state.

During the pandemic, she made a name for herself by bucking the kinds of policies Biden’s administration has championed, while her state has maintained a death rate just below the national average. She has signed laws that require schools to offer in-person learning, banned mask mandates and expanded exemptions to vaccine mandates.

That puts her in position to offer a GOP contrast to Biden, who has stumbled in trying to fulfill his 2020 presidential campaign promise of ending the pandemic.

“While Washington Democrats fail working Americans, Republican governors are fighting and winning for families,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a prepared statement. “Gov. Kim Reynolds’ brave, bold, and successful leadership for Iowans has put her right at the front of that pack. She fought COVID without forgetting common sense and protected Iowans’ health and their rights at the same time.”

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Is Reynolds aligned with Trump?

When Trump returned to Iowa last fall for a rally nearly a year after losing the 2020 presidential election, Reynolds was there to introduce the former president.

It was the latest in a line of connections between Trump and the Iowa governor. Reynolds spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention in support of Trump, citing aid provided to Iowa following what she described as the worst storm in the state’s history.

She also has praised Trump’s defense of the “first in the nation” status for the Iowa caucuses.

Reynolds condemned the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters but expressed sympathy for claims of a stolen presidential election. Before the riot, she told a radio show host in December 2020 that she wished she had been able to sign on to a Texas lawsuit challenging election results in four states.

Reynolds later signed a new Iowa law cutting the number of early voting days in her state and closing polling places earlier on Election Day.

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What is her political ambition?

Reynolds won her first full term as governor in 2018, and she is expected to announce a reelection campaign, for which she already has amassed a $5 million war chest.

The national spot rebutting Biden’s State of the Union could be a further boon for her fundraising efforts.

But Reynolds also might have eyes on higher office. Last year, she got some buzz as a potential running mate to help Trump shore up political weaknesses among women should he decide to run a third time for president in 2024, according to Politico.

Reynolds brings some conservative cred with her to any race. She has backed GOP policies on the COVID-19 response and on new election limits, but she also has signed bills that would have banned most abortions in Iowa before it was struck down in court and allowing people in Iowa to purchase handguns without a permit.

She also signed into law new protections for police officers and harsher penalties for protest-related crimes last summer, about a year after approving a new law banning chokeholds.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: State of the Union: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will give GOP rebuttal