(Radio Iowa) – A state senator who was Governor Kim Reynolds’ budget director says he is exploring a run for governor.  “I want to listen to Iowans. I want to see if the support is there and understand what issues are important and then make a decision.” Mike Bousselot of Ankeny has been a legislator for nearly four years. Bousselot says he was caught off guard like a lot of Iowans by Governor Reynolds’ announcement that she would not run for a third term.

“In the wake of that announcement, Governor Branstad and others reached out and said: ‘You should take a look at this,'” Bousselot says. “And in hearing from folks and talking to my family, we thought maybe announcing a little bit more formal effort at taking a look at the governor’s race was appropriate.” Bousselot was legal counsel and chief of staff for Governor Terry Branstad. Bousselot, who is 42, was born on the day in 1982 when Branstad was first elected governor.

State Senator Mike Bousselot (R-Ankeny) (Photo provided by Bousselot and MikeBforIowa.com)

In 2009, Bousselot was among those who encouraged Branstad to launch a comeback campaign for governor and Branstad, in a written statement, says he’s pleased it’s Bousselot who’s now exploring a run for governor. “He said it’s just something you should consider. You don’t get to choose your time, that I should take a look at it now,” Bousselot said, “so that’s what I’m going to do.” Between his stints working for Branstad and Reynolds, Bousselot was an executive of Summit Agricultural Group, the company founded by Bruce Rastetter, who also owns the company developing the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.

Bousselot won a special election for a seat in the Iowa House in September of 2021 and has been a state senator since 2023. Bousselot says his decision won’t hinge on how many or who else may run for the Republican Party’s 2026 nomination for governor.

“I believe that competition gives us our best candidates. It allows us to organize, to listen to voters, to understand what issues are important to Iowans and respond to those,” Bousselot says. “That competition makes us better as a party and makes candidates better.” Bousselot says he’ll focus economic growth and an “Iowa First” agenda.

“I think under Trump policy you’re going to see more manufacturing jobs coming back to America and Iowa should be at the table for those jobs,” Bousselot said. “Our number one job sector in our state is manufacturing. It’s the number one producer of our agricultural success, beyond agriculture actually. We need to be capturing those manufacturing jobs, making sure we have the skilled workforce ready to fill those jobs and those are jobs that, by the way, go throughout the state.”

Bousselot is a Davenport native who holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting from the University of Iowa and a law degree from Drake University. He recently started his own land and real estate businesses.