In results that left many Iowa Republicans speechless, the Des Moines Register’s final “Iowa Poll” showed Democrat Fred Hubbell leading Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds by 46 to 44 percent statewide.
The “Iowa Poll” also showed 2 percent supporting Libertarian Jake Porter for governor and the rest were undecided or refused to say who they planned to vote for. The margin of error was 3.5 percent.
In a state which has had a Republican governor for all but twelve of the last fifty years, the “Register” results are nothing less than stunning. Reynolds, the former lieutenant governor, became the Hawkeye State’s first woman governor last year when fellow Republican Terry Branstad resigned as governor last year to become U.S. ambassador to China.
First-time candidate Hubbell, 67, is a past chairman of Equitable Life Insurance and former state commissioner of economic development.
“My guess is that Kim Reynolds suffers from being perceived as a Terry Branstad hangover,” Des Moines attorney Patrick Hopkins, a longtime observer of the Iowa political scene, told Newsmax. “A lot of people want to change directions on things just because Branstad was Governor for life (23 years — the longest tenure of any governor in U.S. history). Reynolds is perceived to be a carryover of Branstad’s policies. Sometimes people just want something different.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.