Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) has decided against seeking a U.S. Senate seat, the Des Moines Register reports.

Reynolds “has generally been viewed as the next Republican in line for a bid for the governor’s office and has decided not to change that career trajectory. She and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad are nearly inseparable, which has led politics watchers to think he’s grooming her to be his eventual replacement.”

“But her decision today leaves the GOP still struggling to find a candidate to enter the hotly competitive race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, who declared in early February he’d seek Harkin’s seat. Iowa has yet to send a woman to Congress, and Reynolds was the only woman listed in the top tier of possible U.S. Senate candidates.”

Mother Jones obtained details of an upcoming Koch brothers retreat where they “will unveil a new plan to recruit and train political candidates who will advance their free-market worldview. Another priority is improving the conservative movement’s outreach to ‘growing demographics’ such as Latinos, young people, and women.”

“Another big item on the Kochs’ agenda is a long-awaited post-mortem on last year’s elections. Charles Koch announced in December that he was pushing back the winter retreat from January to late April so that an internal review of his circle’s election strategies could be completed.”

First Read: “It used to be that being a businessman was a sterling credential on a political resume. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and his allies, annihilated that axiom in 2012, morphing Republican challenger Mitt Romney into an outsourcing, job-killing, vulture capitalist who had something to hide by not releasing (more of) his tax returns.”

“That playbook is now in full effect again. But this time it’s being employed by a Republican, Ken Cuccinelli, against a Democrat Terry McAuliffe, best known as a prolific Democratic fundraiser and Clinton ally.”

Mitt Romney announced a series of high-profile speakers — including former Obama adviser David Axelrod — who will address a retreat that the former Republican presidential nominee is putting together in June, the Boston Globe reports.

“At various points during the campaign, Axelrod accused Romney of being secretive, dishonest, and ‘living on a different planet.'”

BuzzFeed notes former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’ (R) campaign banner for his special election bid is the same colors as the Argentine flag, the country of his mistress-turned-girlfriend.

James Carville and Stan Greenberg notes that “on each of the biggest issues of the day — from gun reform, to
immigration, to the budget — Republicans are alienating key voters. But if Democrats want to take control of Congress, they must return to
an issue that has disappeared since election night: the ongoing
struggles of the middle class.”

“Although Sen. Paul says he hasn’t made a decision to run, he isn’t coy
about his ambitions to be a national force. ‘My new notoriety allows me
to talk about ways to make the Republican Party bigger and better, and
to be part of the national debate,’ he said, using a copy of the
Constitution to block the sun from his eyes on a recent drive down a
Kentucky interstate,” the Wall Street Journal reports.