Iowa GOP governor names fifth judge to seven-member state Supreme Court

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds named David May to the Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday, making her fifth appointment to the seven-member court.

Reynolds chose the 51-year-old May from among three finalists for a position that became vacant with the retirement of 72-year-old Justice Brent Appel.

Iowa Supreme Court judges must retire by 72 years of age.

The appointment of May means that all members of the court now have been named by Republican governors. Besides Reynolds’ five appointments, former Gov. Terry Branstad appointed two of the justices.

Appel, who was appointed by Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2006, was the last justice on the Iowa Supreme Court picked by a Democratic governor.

May’s appointment to the Supreme Court creates a vacancy on the Court of Appeals that Reynolds will now move to fill.

May had been a member of the Iowa Court of Appeals since 2019 and had served as a district judge. He received his law degree from Drake University Law School in Des Moines and his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.