Greg Ganske

Life and career

Ganske was born in New Hampton, Iowa, to parents Victor and Mary Jo Ganske, and he graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in political science in 1972. In 1976, Ganske graduated from the University of Iowa medical school, where he met and married his wife, Corrine Mikkelson. Ganske worked as a plastic surgeon in Des Moines until he challenged veteran Democratic Congressman Neal Smith in 1994. Ganske campaigned in a cream 1958 DeSoto (Smith having won his first congressional race in that year), playing songs from that era. Ganske was also helped by the 1990s round of redistricting. Smith had previously represented a district that was more or less coextensive with the Des Moines metropolitan area, but redistricting had pushed it into southwestern Iowa, an area Smith did not know and that did not know him. In one of the biggest upsets in recent congressional history, Ganske defeated Smith by six points, largely by running up large margins in southwestern Iowa.

Ganske was nearly defeated for reelection in 1996, but was reelected with little difficulty in 1998 and 2000. He was considered a relatively moderate Republican, which played well in a district dominated by traditionally Democratic Des Moines.

After the 2000 round of redistricting, much of the 4th district was shifted into the 5th district, which created a district that covered all of western Iowa. However, Ganske's home city of Des Moines was drawn into the 3rd district, represented by Democrat Leonard Boswell. Rather than running for reelection, Ganske ran for the United States Senate against incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin. He easily won the Republican nomination, but lost to Harkin by 10 points. Following that election, he resumed his practice in Des Moines.