Sitting at the front of a small conference room in downtown Iowa City, Fred Hubbell hesitated before the crowd of about 30, packed into the room under fluorescent lights.

The Democratic candidate for Iowa governor appeared uncertain about how to begin the day’s discussion about higher education policy with local students and professors.

He showed similar reservation during an intimate roundtable discussion with Iowa teachers at the Central Library in Des Moines. There, staffers had to hush people in the hallway because Hubbell’s soft voice can struggle to be heard even in the smallest groups.

But in both settings, the 67-year-old loosened up as he began to explore the depths of public policy.

In Iowa City, he lamented the thousands of Iowans who struggle to cover the basic costs of food, housing and healthcare.

"We need to start addressing those issues," he said. "It’s all about priorities. Our administration’s going to put people first. We’re going to stop the wasteful corporate giveaways. We’re going to invest in education and health care."

Election Day 2018 voter guide: Everything Iowans need to know before you vote

With the teachers, he discussed the merits of high-stakes testing and rattled off numbers about Iowa’s K-12 funding. In Iowa City, he rattled off another set of numbers about the state’s declining financial support for public universities. And he contrasted those sums with the millions of dollars Iowa hands out to big corporations in refundable tax credits each year.

Hubbell, trim and tall, his full head of hair woven with hues of dark and gray, does not command a room with a big personality. Instead, he commands with facts: Details of trade, healthcare and education are staples of his campaign events.

As the scion of one of Iowa’s most storied families and a longtime business executive, Hubbell doesn’t shy away from attention. But his campaign style is decidedly tame.

Friends, family and business associates say he's always been that way. Hubbell keeps his head down, even in high-profile positions. He has traditionally sought to keep attention on his businesses and his charitable causes — not himself. And now, as he runs for governor against Republican Kim Reynolds, he diverts attention from himself to the issues that he insists are bruising the great state of Iowa.

"He’ll be a better governor than he is a campaigner," said Steve Hoskins, who worked under Hubbell in the 1990s at Equitable Life Insurance Company. "And I don’t mean that in an insulting way. He has a really, really hard time waving his own flag."

Hubbell acknowledged that for him the race centers on policy, not personality.

"It's not about me; it’s about the people," Hubbell said. "All I'm trying to do is step up and help the state of Iowa. It needs help."

The road to November

Hubbell is challenging a sitting governor. But Reynolds hasn’t won a statewide race yet; she inherited the office when former Gov. Terry Branstad was tapped as the U.S. ambassador to China.

The contest is tight: Both Politico and the Cook Political Report have rated the race a tossup.A recent Iowa Poll showed a practical dead heat, with Hubbell leading Reynolds by 2 points, an edge that was within the margin of error. But the same poll also found that 30 percent of likely Iowa voters didn't know enough about Hubbell to form an opinion.

In the primary, Hubbell’s personal fortune afforded him outsize advantage. He poured nearly $3 million of his own money into the race.

But he’s also shown a prowess for fundraising: From the start of 2017 to a July 14 reporting deadline, he raised a total of about $9.5 million (including his personal contributions) compared to Reynolds' total of about $6.3 million.

Across the nation, races in swing states are proving competitive this election cycle as Democrats seek to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s “upside down” approval ratings, said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor at the Cook Political Report who is following the Iowa gubernatorial race.

"It’s going to come down to how voters are feeling about the future and whether or not they feel the need for a big, substantive change," she said. "Democrats are banking on the answer being 'yes.'"

Hubbell, too, is banking on that desire for change. But he can’t ignore personality politics altogether, Duffy said, because voters respond to personal narrative: They need to like the person running for governor.

While Hubbell focuses on the issues, Republicans have been busy characterizing him as an out-of-touch millionaire and painting Reynolds as a folksy and relatable leader.

That may be Hubbell’s biggest challenge, said John Norris, a former USDA official who competed against Hubbell for the Democratic nomination. He said Hubbell needs to work harder at building personal connections with Iowa voters.

Reynolds frequently reminds voters about her humble roots, waiting tables and bagging groceries. Norris believes that’s an attempt to shift the debate away from a central question in the race: whether Republicans have mismanaged the government.

But Hubbell's low-key style works fine when "speaking to the noon chamber of commerce in Rockwell City or in Des Moines," Norris said. He doesn't rouse big crowds at massive rallies, but he doesn't need to do that — Democrats are already motivated to win back both Congress and the Statehouse, he said, after nearly two years of Trump in office.

Hubbell history looms large

More than 160 years ago, another Frederick Hubbell arrived in Iowa in a stagecoach, looking for opportunity.

At 16, F.M. Hubbell, the candidate’s great-great grandfather, was hellbent on making money after overhearing his father talk about desperate folks in the poorhouse, according to George Mills' 1955 biography, "The Little Man with the Long Shadow."

F.M. Hubbell achieved his goal, amassing great wealth and leaving a legacy that reshaped Iowa and its capital city.

He worked in land speculation, railroads and the law. He founded Sioux County, in northwest Iowa, and created institutions like Des Moines Water Works and Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa — the first life insurance firm west of the Mississippi River.

He also gave back. He helped secure the permanent grounds for the Iowa State Fair and donated money toward creating Fort Des Moines.

"Early on, he realizes if the city does well, I do well," said Bill Friedricks, a Simpson College history professor who wrote a book on F.M. Hubbell.

F.M. Hubbell was Iowa’s richest man for decades. And he inhabited Iowa’s crown jewel: Terrace Hill, an 1869-era mansion originally dubbed a "castle among cornrows." It was donated to the state in 1971 and now serves as the governor's mansion.

The tycoon's fortune was so large that it has lasted. His heirs continue to share their wealth with benefactors like the Blank Park Zoo, the Des Moines Public Library and the Des Moines Arts Center — often with little or no recognition.

"They’ve left a huge imprint, but their way of dealing with people is a very light touch," Friedricks said.

Fred Hubbell grew up knowing about the family's legacy, but his parents didn't let it define him, he said. There was privilege, but no pressure to perform.

"They just raised us to be like all the other kids," the candidate said.

He recalls spending almost all his childhood outdoors. He rode his bike to school. Each winter, all the neighborhood kids would skate atop the frozen Greenwood Pond. Hubbell sometimes filled in on his friend’s paper route, where he would collect nickels and dimes from readers. The clients occasionally tipped, but he did the work for free.

He attended local public schools through junior high school, then went away to St. Mark’s School, an Episcopal boarding school in Southborough, Massachusetts, that his father had attended. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to law school at the University of Iowa.

When he met his wife, Charlotte, in a property law class, the Hubbell name meant nothing to her.

A native of New Orleans, she had lived in Iowa for only two years. The beat-up Pontiac he drove in law school said nothing about his social status.

But on a trip to Des Moines in 1974, she was surprised to witness his family’s wealth. His parents were kind and welcoming to her, she remembered. But she still grilled him on their drive back to Iowa City.

"I said, 'Well, where’d your parents come from?'" she said.

He proposed to Charlotte at a dinner around the time of their law school graduation in the spring of 1976. Both their families were present.

The couple moved to New York to launch their budding legal careers, but soon decided to return to Iowa. Hubbell’s family was still involved in the Equitable of Iowa Companies, where his father was an executive. A mentor at the time recruited the younger Hubbell to practice law for a firm that worked closely with Equitable.

Fred and Charlotte Hubbell agreed. But first, they planned a round-the-world journey.

A hijacking is life-changing

In 1981, the couple boarded a Pakistani International Airlines flight for a short 700-mile jaunt from Karachi to Peshawar.

But a half hour before landing, Pakistani hijackers diverted the aircraft to Kabul, Afghanistan. The Hubbells, sitting in the coach cabin, wept in fear as the hijackers shot and killed Tariq Rahim, a Pakistani diplomat, who was 10 feet away.

Charlotte Hubbell was ordered off the plane in Afghanistan, leaving both to wonder about the other's fate for seven days.

Toting semi-automatic pistols and hand grenades, the terrorists then ordered the plane flown to Syria, where the hostages stewed on the Boeing 720 for days.

They languished in the heat of the day and the cold of night. The toilets filled with waste. A U.S. State Department official described the 13-day ordeal as a "living hell."

To keep his mind busy, Hubbell read the only things he could find: a mystery novel, some old news magazines and a guidebook to Nepal.

He was alone with his thoughts for hours. He prayed. He tried to rationalize the actions of his captors. And he learned something that he says changed the course of his life.

"When you’re given a second chance in life, it’s not just about having fun," he said. "It’s also about helping people."

As supplies diminished on the plane, the hostages were repeatedly fed oranges, Coca Cola and chicken curry. Fred Hubbell's sister, Harriett "Rusty" Hubbell, called the couple's experience "awful," but said the family later came to joke about Fred and Charlotte’s months-long aversion to chicken curry.

In the aftermath of the hijacking, Fred Hubbell showed the same quiet resolve that runs central to his personality, Rusty Hubbell said. She saw it as he encouraged her through her math homework as a child. And she sees it today in his campaign for governor.

"He’s just so totally committed," she said. "It's all straight ahead."

Hubbell joins — and leads — Equitable

Hubbell returned to Iowa and quickly moved into the family business, where his father urged staffers not to speak of the hijacking.

Fred Hubbell was the fifth generation to take a leadership role at Equitable of Iowa, which also owned the Younkers chain of department stores.

During his tenure at Younkers, annual sales more than doubled, and the stores added more than 1,000 jobs. Hubbell has often held up this experience as a major qualification for the state’s highest office. His opponents, though, have claimed his leadership showed a disregard for rural Iowa workers.

Janet Altes came to work at Younkers in the middle of the 1980s farm crisis for one reason: Her husband farmed in Mingo, Iowa, and they needed health insurance. She worked as an assistant for James Hubbell Jr. before working for his son, Fred Hubbell. She’s now worked for him for 32 years.

"Does that tell you what I think of him?" she said.

Altes works in an art-filled Court Avenue office building where she oversees the personal business of Fred and Charlotte Hubbell and their foundation.

At Younkers and later at ING, Hubbell was always calm and generally serious about the work at hand, she said. Altes heard him raise his voice only once in 32 years.

He had asked a subordinate to make a decision on a business matter, but the employee kept hesitating.

"He just doesn't show frustration," she said. But "this was a person he had wanted an answer from for a long time. Finally, he said, 'It’s now or never.'"

Hubbell was demanding, though: "You can tell by the way he looks at you and what he says that he means business," Altes said.

But she said Hubbell was fair and wasn’t the kind of boss who prompted griping among the worker bees.

"When you’re an executive assistant, you hear things," said Altes, 77. "He treated his employees wonderfully."

Doing jobs that 'needed to be done'

Hubbell rose to the top leadership positions at both Younkers and Equitable. He grew comfortable delegating and leaning on the expertise of those who worked in the insurance and department store businesses.

"If someone constantly needs prodded and pushed to do their job, I don’t think they would probably fit into a Fred Hubbell-type organization," said Hoskins, who worked in product development at Equitable in the 1990s. He switched his party affiliation so he could support Hubbell in the Democratic primary this summer.

In the summer of 1993, the Equitable offices flooded along with the rest of downtown Des Moines. On a Saturday morning, staff members began moving to a temporary space in West Des Moines. Amid the chaos, Hubbell and other executives jumped in to move tables, set up phones and stuff envelopes. They had the makeshift office ready by Monday morning.

"There was a job that needed to get done," Hoskins said. "We did it together."

After retiring from Dutch banking giant ING, which acquired Equitable in 1997, Hubbell was tapped by Democratic Gov. Chet Culver to take over at the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

The agency had been plagued by a scandal in which filmmakers took advantage of a lax film tax credit. The program was terminated, and its director was fired and convicted of criminal charges.

Hubbell was brought in to help clean up the mess.

At the time, offices handling the film tax credit were roped off with crime scene tape. And a highway patrolman guarded the area.

"The whole department was on edge," said Thom Hart, who worked there at the time.

Hart said Hubbell learned about the operation by walking around the office and asking a lot of questions. Hart, a former mayor of Davenport, was in his late 50s. Hubbell's brief leadership left an impression on him.

"There’s not a lot of external flash, but I think there’s a very strong intellect and very good assessment skills," he said. "I remember thinking, 'You know, I could learn a lot from this guy."

Why is he running?

Hubbell’s friends and family members — even his wife — had told him for years he ought to consider a run for public office. For years he declined, electing to volunteer and contribute to campaigns instead.

But Hubbell says he’s grown increasingly worried about the direction of Iowa since Republicans clinched total control of state government in 2017.

As he frequently recalls during campaign events, the Legislature that year cut public employee collective bargaining rights, limited municipalities from increasing Iowa’s $7.25 hourly minimum wage, defunded Planned Parenthood and limited access to abortions.

"I decided, look, I can’t stand by any longer and watch our state get run into the ground," Hubbell said. "I want the next several generations of Iowans to have the same kind of opportunities that my generation did."

Hubbell has shown no hesitance in challenging Reynolds’ record, but at times has avoided the kind of spotlight that other candidates crave for building name recognition.

He toured damage from a July 19 tornado that devastated Marshalltown but sought no media coverage, his wife said. Likewise, in August he visited with David Hudson, a Republican, after Reynolds gained notoriety for dropping the vocal Medicaid critic from a Medicaid advisory committee.

Hubbell arrived at Hudson’s Windsor Heights home at about 6:15 p.m. after a long day of campaigning. But he didn't rush.

Hudson said the candidate seemed genuinely interested in learning about Hudson's care routine for his severely disabled son, Matthew. And he was at ease both visiting Matthew and discussing the Medicaid system in depth with the father.

"I got the feeling that he could have stood in my living room for two hours listening to me," Hudson said. "I kept telling him he needed to go home and didn't have to keep listening to me."

On July 25, Hubbell wandered around the throngs of bicyclists milling around State Center during the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

Scheduled as an official campaign stop, the day appeared to be a chance for retail politicking. The candidate was followed by a few staffers and his younger brother, Mike. Both Hubbells were wearing campaign-branded Lycra bicycle jerseys as they prepared to ride a 9-mile leg to Melbourne.

Before taking off, Hubbell arrived at the volunteer fire department downtown, where a young campaign aide whispered to him to go shake hands with the firefighters selling $5 pork burgers inside.

He weaved in and out of the thousands of bodies filling the streets. The stench of sweat, charcoal and beer hung in the air. Hubbell stopped for lunch, choosing a veggie rice bowl from a vendor.

He shook hands and took photos with the few who recognized him, but went unnoticed by many.

"I think that’s Fred Hubbell," whispered one cyclist.

Brian Powers contributed to this report.

RELATED:Kim Reynolds, governor fighting for a full term, campaigns with a personal story, vibrant personality

More:Iowa's Medicaid privatization: Kim Reynolds says right track; Fred Hubbell says 'disaster'

More:Gov. Kim Reynolds and Fred Hubbell campaigns agree to three debates

More:Exclusive analysis: Hubbell-Reynolds race blasting Iowa with $6 million+ worth of TV ads

More:Is Iowa 'No. 1'? Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, in re-election campaign, insists it is.

More:Fred Hubbell releases partial tax return showing $523,000 paid in state, federal taxes

About Fred Hubbell

Born:Frederick Shelton Hubbell, April 25, 1951

Political Party: Democrat

Parents: James Windsor Hubbell Jr. and Helen Hubbell

Siblings:James, 70; Harriett "Rusty," 69; Michael, 65

Wife:Charlotte, married Aug. 28, 1976

Children:Lauren, 36; Meredith, 33; Eric, 32

Education: St. Mark's School, Southborough, Mass., high school; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, bachelor's of arts; University of Iowa College of Law, juris doctor; Harvard Graduate School of Business Program for Management Development, certificate program

Website: FredHubbell.com