Fred Hubbell (file photo)

Iowa Democrats and Libertarians have a chance to choose their party’s nominee for governor when they cast their votes in next Tuesday’s primary.

There are five candidates actively campaigning for the Democratic Party’s nomination. State Senator Nate Boulton dropped out of the race last week, but his name is still listed on the ballots. Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell is the perceived front-runner. A recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showed him in the lead.

Hubbell became CEO of Younkers Department stores in the mid-1980s and then served as president of the Des Moines-based insurance company his great-great-grandfather founded. Hubbell touts his support of Planned Parenthood and his work a dozen years ago in state government’s economic development agency.

“I’m a fifth generation Iowan and a life-long progressive Democrat,” Hubbell said. “…I’ve had a long career in both the private sector and the public sector, delivering results.”

John Norris of Des Moines has worked for Democrats Jesse Jackson, Leonard Boswell, Tom Harkin, John Kerry and Tom Vilsack. Norris, who owns a consulting business, has been a state and federal utility regulator.

“I believe to win this election, we have to have someone who’s experienced in managing in government…and in business, particularly, because of Kim Reynolds’ mismanagement of government is something we have to draw a distinction on.,” Norris said.

Cathy Glasson, a nurse from Coralville, helped organized a local union at the University of Iowa Hospitals. She has called for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and a state-run universal health care system.

“We have lost 11 out of the last 14 governors races in this state by staying safe in the middle,” Glasson said. “We need to stand up and fight against status-quo, establishment politics.”

Former Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Andy McGuire, a medical doctor, is the former chief operating officer of a managed care company. McGuire said she’d focus on ensuring Iowans have access to quality, affordable health care “and that they have good education, world-class education, that they have good-paying jobs with good benefits and that they have good, clean water and air.”

Ross Wilburn is a diversity officer for Iowa State University Extension. He is a former member of the city council in Iowa City and was the first African-American to be elected as mayor of Iowa City.

“I’ve got 12 years of elected experience supporting the public and public issues,” Wilburn said.

Libertarians are now an officially recognized party in Iowa, too, so Libertarians are having a statewide primary, with two candidates for governor. Marco Battaglia of Des Moines has worked as a journalist and in the financial services industry. He’s never run for office before.

“There’s this wave of people that don’t want, you know, your ‘status quo politician’ and I am definitely not that,” Battaglia said.

Jake Porter of Council Bluffs is a business consultant who’s the former executive director of the Libertarian Party of Iowa. Porter has run before, as a General Election candidate.

“In 2010 and 2014 I was the Libertarian nominee for Iowa Secretary of State,” Porter said. “Both times I got over 30,000 votes.”

Kim Reynolds is the only candidate seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for governor. Reynolds took over as Iowa’s governor just over a year ago when Terry Branstad resigned to become ambassador to China, so she is seeking election as governor for the first time.

Hear more from the candidates by clicking on the links below:

Democratic candidates speak at IDP’s Fall Gala in November, 2017

Democratic candidates appear on “Iowa Press” debate

Reynolds launches her campaign with event in Oseola

Libertarian candidates appear on “Iowa Press”