The governor of Iowa bet on DeSantis. Voters are not happy.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds broke with tradition and with former President Donald J. Trump in November when she endorsed Ron DeSantis for president in her state’s first caucuses, a move that surprised both political observers and Iowa voters.

And it hardly seemed to change anything: Trump remains the runaway favorite among potential caucus-goers in the polls. The question now is whether Ms. Reynolds, who was popular with Republicans in the state before siding with DeSantis, will pay a price with her own voters when the presidential primaries depart from Iowa next week.

She is backing Mr. DeSantis across the state and has upset Republican county officials and those who count themselves among the former president’s fiercest supporters.

“I think the governor will spend a lot of time in the next term rebuilding her relationships with a lot of people in the state,” said Gary Leffler, a Trump supporter who is also a friend of Ms. Reynolds and a former volunteer for her. campaigns for governor.

He said he still trusted and respected Ms. Reynolds, but for many Trump supporters “it is a big problem in the relationship with her.”

Interviews with nearly two dozen Iowa voters and local Republican officials showed that while she remains well-liked, if not loved, in the state, there was clear dissatisfaction with her endorsement by DeSantis. Many of those same voters and political strategists suggested that this was unlikely to have a lasting negative effect because her conservative policies are so popular. Yet the wild card is Mr. Trump, who branded her disloyal after her announcement in November and has backed challenges from Republican elected officials who cross him. He has insulted her at rallies and attacked her in advertisements. In a video his campaign shared on X on Tuesday he called her “the least popular governor in the country.”

“If President Trump has only been loyal and returned the favor to others by being disloyal, voters can see right through it,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. “People won’t forget it.”

Ms. Reynolds’ office declined to comment for this article. On Tuesday evening, she delivered her annual Condition of the State address to the Legislature, where she was warmly received with standing ovations from lawmakers. She mostly stuck to the details of state government, but briefly alluded to the impending caucuses.

“Iowa is on the rise, and when the world descends on our state next week, they’re going to see that,” she said.

The rift between Mr. Trump and Ms. Reynolds — a politician whose star within the party has been steadily rising and who is serving her second full term as governor — seemed unlikely just a few years ago.

As the state’s lieutenant governor, she was elevated to Iowa’s top position in 2017 when Mr. Trump tapped Gov. Terry Branstad to serve as his ambassador to China. In 2018, Ms. Reynolds won a full term as governor. Mr. Trump supported her before the election, and she squeaked by, winning by 2.8 percentage points. Ms. Reynolds, in turn, was an ardent supporter of Mr. Trump, appearing alongside him in Washington and, after his 2020 loss, condemning the January 6 riot at the Capitol, but continues to pander to its debunked claims of widespread fraud that undermined confidence in the outcome.

But Ms. Reynolds and Mr. DeSantis have recently become friends. They said they grew closer during the coronavirus pandemic, when Mr. DeSantis called Ms. Reynolds to discuss the backlash they had received for reopening schools earlier than many other states. The governors have pursued similarly ultra-conservative policies, and their personal lives intersected in ways that appear to have strengthened their bond. Mr. DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, a breast cancer survivor, visited the Reynolds family in October after Ms. Reynolds’ husband, Kevin, was diagnosed with lung cancer.

“This is the only guy who has gone to all 99 counties,” Ms. Reynolds said last month at a packed campaign event in Bettendorf, Iowa, praising Mr. DeSantis as she sat next to him and Ms. DeSantis as 150 attendees looked on. “He put in the work and time and was committed to Iowans.”

When the Republican primaries opened last year, she said she would remain neutral, as governors have largely done since 1996, despite her public friendship with Mr. DeSantis. But Mr. Trump may have pushed Ms. Reynolds even further into Mr. DeSantis’ camp in July, when he attacked her for her initial pledge to stay out of the Republican primaries.

“I opened the governor position for Kim Reynolds, and when she fell behind, I supported her, made big rallies and she won. Now she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL,’” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

Mrs. Reynolds strike backand stepped up her public appearances alongside Mr. DeSantis in the summer and fall before voicing her support.

The Republican chairs of the state’s 99 counties had also pledged to remain neutral — though some have publicly advocated for different candidates, most notably Mr. Trump. Some said they were angry with Ms. Reynolds for going back on her own pledge to stay out of the race, though many declined to speak to The New York Times on the record for fear of damaging their relationship with the governor.

“I’m disappointed that Governor Reynolds has endorsed anyone,” said Roger Helmrichs, chairman of the Delaware County Republicans in eastern Iowa.

Mr. Helmrichs said he supported Ms. Haley but had avoided a public endorsement. He said Ms. Reynolds had put herself in an uncomfortable position if Mr. Trump ultimately won the nomination.

“How do you put the cat back in the bag and say, ‘Yes, now I support this candidate?’” Mr. Helmrichs asked. “I think it’s a bit difficult for an official.”

While there is an outside chance that the rift with Mr. Trump could grow into a significant problem for Ms. Reynolds, many voters and strategists believed the rift was more likely to disappear over time.

“The vast majority of Republicans in the state of Iowa still love Governor Reynolds,” said Jimmy Centers, a political strategist who formerly worked for the governor.

Some voters even greeted her support with enthusiasm. At a DeSantis rally last month in Newton, Cheryl Septer, 62, said Ms. Reynolds’ support “made me lean more toward DeSantis.”

Others said they disagreed with her choice but still respected her.

“We can work through it as a state,” Kurt Wieland, 61, said at a Trump rally in Coralville. “As a citizen, she has the right to support whoever she wants.”

In the end it may not make any difference. Ms. Reynolds is not term-limited, and she is still more than two years away from her next election, if she chooses to run again. It’s entirely possible that Iowans have forgotten about the issue altogether due to the 2026 gubernatorial race.

“We always say the old ’24 hours is a lifetime in politics,’” said Eric Woolson, a veteran political strategist who managed former presidential candidate Doug Burgum’s campaign in Iowa, suggesting that by then voters will be further along. “But I know a lot of activists, a lot of political professionals have very long memories and hold grudges.”

The outstanding question, Mr. Woolson said, was whether a Republican who joins Trump could use this moment as a springboard to mount a primary challenge in the next election.

“That’s one of those things we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

Nicholas Nehamas And Michael Gold reporting contributed.