Fred Hubbell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fred Hubbell
Personal details
Born	Frederick Shelton Hubbell (1951-04-25) April 25, 1951 (age 74) Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Charlotte Beyer
Children	3
Education	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA) University of Iowa (JD)

Frederick Shelton Hubbell (born April 25, 1951) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from Iowa. He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa in the 2018 election.

Before running for governor, Hubbell was the chairman of the Younkers department stores in the 1980s. He was also the president of a company called Equitable of Iowa. Later, he worked for the state of Iowa, helping with economic development and renewable energy.

Early Life and Education

Fred Hubbell was born and grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. For college, he went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After that, he earned a Juris Doctor, which is a degree for lawyers, from the University of Iowa College of Law.

It was in law school that Fred met his wife, Charlotte. They live in Des Moines and have three grown children and three grandchildren.

After finishing law school, Hubbell started his career as a lawyer in New York City. In 1981, Hubbell and his wife went through a scary experience when they were held hostage during the 1981 Pakistan International Airlines hijacking. They both survived the event.

Business and Public Service Career

Working in Business

In 1983, Hubbell started working for Equitable of Iowa, a life insurance company. His great-great-grandfather, Frederick M. Hubbell, had started the company back in the 1860s. By 1985, Hubbell became the Chairman of Younkers, a department store chain owned by Equitable.

Two years later, in 1987, he became the President of Equitable of Iowa. He was known for helping the company grow and succeed. He stayed as president until another company, ING Group, bought Equitable in 1997.

Serving the State of Iowa

In 2009, Iowa's governor, Chet Culver, asked Hubbell to help fix a problem in the Department of Economic Development. Hubbell served as the acting director and helped find ways to save the state money. His team found over $160 million in tax credits that were not helping Iowa's economy.

From 2007 to 2010, Hubbell was also the Chair of the Iowa Power Fund. This group was in charge of investing $100 million in projects for wind power and other renewable energy sources across Iowa.

In February 2019, Hubbell was hurt in a bicycle accident in Arizona but made a full recovery.

Helping the Community

Hubbell has spent a lot of time working with charities and nonprofit groups. He has helped organizations focused on hospitals, education, and community support.

For example, he served on the board for Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. He also helped lead the United Way campaign in Central Iowa. For many years, he was on the Board of Trustees for Simpson College.

After a major flood hit Eastern Iowa in 2008, Hubbell helped lead a campaign that raised almost $8 million for flood victims. He and his wife, Charlotte, also helped the Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines expand its mental health facility. This expansion helped the hospital care for more patients.

2018 Campaign for Governor

On July 17, 2017, Fred Hubbell announced he was running for Governor of Iowa. His campaign quickly raised over $1 million, which was a record for a Democratic candidate in Iowa. He was seen as a leading candidate from the start.

Polls showed that many voters liked him. By early 2018, his campaign had raised over $3 million from donors in all of Iowa's 99 counties.

Hubbell won the Democratic primary election with 55% of the vote. This meant he became the official Democratic nominee for governor. In the main election on November 6, 2018, he ran against the current governor, Kim Reynolds of the Republican Party, and Jake Porter of the Libertarian Party. It was a very close race, but Hubbell narrowly lost to Reynolds.