DES MOINES – Tens of thousands of students across Iowa participated in Secretary of State Paul Pate's Falls 2018 Iowa Youth Straw Poll on Tuesday. Results as of 5 p.m. show incumbent Kim Reynolds leading the race for Iowa Governor by eight points over Fred Hubbell. Rod Blum, Christopher Peters, David Young and Steve King maintain leads in Iowa's congressional races. More than 38,000 votes have been tallied so far.

The closest race as of 5 p.m. Tuesday was in the First Congressional District, where incumbent Rod Blum leads Abby Finkenauer, 47.3% - 44.7%. Libertarian Troy Hagemen picked up 8% of the votes.

Secretary Pate invited every school and youth group in Iowa to take part in the straw poll. Most of the participants are high school students.

Live results are available on the Iowa Secretary of State's website, sos.iowa.gov, and will continue to be updated. The results are unscientific. The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is conducted for educational purposes only. It provides students with a hands-on experience in civic engagement.

Photos of students participating in the Youth Straw Poll are available on Twitter and Facebook, using the #BeAVoter hashtag. The posts are retweeted and shared on Secretary Pate's social media accounts.

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