(Des Moines) Gov. Reynolds today announced she has appointed Chris Cournoyer as Lieutenant Governor of Iowa.
Cournoyer, a resident of LeClaire, Iowa, was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018. She chaired the inaugural Technology committee, from which position she wrote and managed the legislation that made Iowa the sixth state in the nation to protect consumer data in law. She was also Chair of the Education Budget Committee, Vice Chair of the State Government committee and sat on the Education, Natural Resources and Environment, Transportation, and Ways and Means committees.
“I’m excited to announce Chris Cournoyer as the new Lt. Governor,” Governor Reynolds said. “First and foremost, she has the character, judgement, and ability needed to serve as governor in case I were ever unable to—qualities that also make her ideally suited to support our work on a day-to-day basis. I can’t wait to deploy Chris’ extensive experience on key legislative committees, including Ways and Means, and expertise in technology, innovation, and artificial intelligence on a wide range of issues important to Iowans.”
“I’m profoundly honored to serve as lieutenant governor, and Iowans can be confident that I will always approach the role with all the seriousness it deserves,” Lt. Governor Cournoyer said. “I couldn’t be more excited to join Governor Reynolds’ team and do my part to implement her bold agenda for our state.”
Cournoyer has extensive experience in the technology sector, artificial intelligence, and K-12 education. She worked as a senior consultant in the Technology Division at Andersen Consulting, the Fortune 500 firm that later became Accenture. She has also built a successful business as an independent website designer and developer and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the University of Texas. She is a member of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, a former member of the Quad Cities Engineering and Science Council, and a former school board president.
Named an “Iowa Woman of Innovation–STEM Champion” by the Technology Association of Iowa, Cournoyer maintains a personal connection to the classroom as a robotics and coding teacher and an active substitute teacher in her community. She is a former reserve sheriff duty, an avid local volunteer, and a proud mother of four.
