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Hubbell Slams Reynolds' Handling Of Trade Issues In Soapbox Speech

fred hubbell
Katarina Sostaric/IPR
Candidate for governor Fred Hubbell greets supporters before his soapbox speech at the Iowa State Fair Saturday, August 11, 2018.

Standing on the Des Moines Register soapbox Saturday, Democratic candidate for governor Fred Hubbell criticized Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds for what he said is her failure to stand up to the White House during escalating trade disputes.

Hubbell said tariffs are putting rural communities “on edge.”

“It’s not acceptable to say, ‘Let’s be patient, it’s going to work its way out.’ We need someone to stand up for Iowans and put Iowans first, regardless of who’s in the White House and regardless of what the party is,” Hubbell said. “And that’s what I’m going to do.”

Hubbell is a Des Moines businessman challenging Reynolds in the November election.

Hubbell also slammed Reynolds and the Republican-led legislature for “virtually running our state into the ground” by cutting budgets and prioritizing what he called wasteful tax giveaways.

“So the combination of all those cuts and the funding going in the wrong direction with the wrong priorities is causing a lot of harm and suffering across our state,” Hubbell said.

Hubbell said he has the experience with complex budgets needed to “turn the state around.”

He said Saturday he would prioritize putting funding into raising incomes across the state and improving access to education and health care.

Hubbell said if elected, he would raise the state minimum wage, push for all-day pre-Kindergarten for 4-year-olds, restore collective bargaining rights, and start bringing the privatized Medicaid system back under state control on his first day in office.

Gov. Reynolds is scheduled to speak at the soapbox tTuesday afternoon.

Katarina Sostaric is IPR's State Government Reporter, with expertise in state government and agencies, state officials and how public policy affects Iowans' lives. She's covered Iowa's annual legislative sessions, the closure of state agencies, and policy impacts on family planning services and access, among other topics, for IPR, NPR and other public media organizations. Sostaric is a graduate of the University of Missouri.