Kim Reynolds ascended to the governorship in May 2017 after former Gov. Terry Branstad was tapped to be Trump’s ambassador to China. | AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall Iowa Republican Kim Reynolds reelected as governor of Iowa

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds was reelected Tuesday over Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell, sealing Republican dominance in a state that twice voted for Barack Obama before decisively backing President Donald Trump in 2016.

Reynolds had 50 percent of the vote to 47.8 percent for Hubbell, a businessman, when three networks called the race with more than 90 percent of precincts reporting.


The two candidates spent the year running neck-and-neck in public polling, in a race that pitted a first-time candidate in Hubbell against Iowa’s first female governor. Reynolds ascended to the governorship in May 2017 after former Gov. Terry Branstad was tapped to be Trump’s ambassador to China.

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Abortion was a key flashpoint in the campaign: Reynolds signed a so-called “heartbeat” bill that would have banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — the most restrictive abortion law in the country, and one that is still being challenged in court. Hubbell, a former board member of Planned Parenthood, campaigned on undoing the law.

The two also clashed over Medicaid privatization.

As of this week, Hubbell had raised $20.4 million to Reynolds' $14.5 million, including $7 million of his own money, according to the Des Moines Register. The Democrat also enjoyed a steady stream of high-profile surrogates as potential Democratic presidential candidates visited Iowa to campaign this year. Ivanka Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were among the Republicans who campaigned for Reynolds.