Reynolds leads all Democratic challengers in 2018 race for governor but...

[progressoid]

The new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll suggests two of those would-be challengers — state Sen. Nate Boulton and retired businessman Fred Hubbell — are more competitive with Reynolds than other Democrats in the race, but also indicates a high level of uncertainty and lingering unfamiliarity with the wide field of challengers.

In a Reynolds-Boulton matchup, 41 percent of likely 2018 voters say they’d vote for Reynolds, compared to 37 percent for Boulton — a 4 percentage-point advantage. In a Reynolds-Hubbell matchup, 42 percent would opt for the incumbent while 37 percent would back the Democrat, a 5-point edge.

In each hypothetical matchup, 22 percent of voters say they’d choose someone else, wouldn’t vote or simply weren’t yet sure whom to choose.

...

That said, Reynolds doesn’t garner more than 44 percent of the vote in any of the five matchups — a figure that underperforms both her 49 percent favorability rating and 47 percent job-approval rating among likely 2018 voters.

...https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2018/02/07/iowa-poll-kim-reynolds-leads-all-democratic-challengers-2018-race-governor/308397002/