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Greg Ganske | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Neal Edward Smith |
| Succeeded by | Steve King |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Greg Ganske (1949-03-31)March 31, 1949 (age 76) New Hampton,Iowa, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | University of Iowa (BA,MD) |
| Signature |  |
John Greg Ganske (born March 31, 1949) is an Americanpolitician, plastic surgeon, and retired U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel fromIowa. He served as aRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Iowa in 2002.
Ganske was born inNew Hampton, Iowa to parents Victor and Mary Jo Ganske. He earned honors in wrestling in high school, and was an American Field Service exchange student to Costa Rica in 1966.
He graduated from theUniversity of Iowa with aB.A.with honors in political science and general science in 1972. In 1976, Ganske graduated from theUniversity of Iowa School of Medicine, and subsequently completed a general surgery residency in 1982 at the Oregon Health Sciences Center and a plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at Harvard in 1984, training under Nobel Laureate Dr. Joe Murray.
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Ganske worked as a plastic surgeon inDes Moines until he challenged veteran Democratic CongressmanNeal Smith in 1994. Ganske campaigned in a cream 1958DeSoto (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 DemocratLeonard Boswell. Rather than running for reelection, Ganske ran for theUnited States Senate against incumbent DemocratTom Harkin. He easily won the Republican nomination, but lost to Harkin by 10 points. Following that election, he resumed his practice in Des Moines.
During medical school, Ganske met and married his wife, Corrine Mikkelson.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromIowa (Class 2) 2002 | Succeeded by Christopher Reed |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 4th congressional district January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former US Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative | Succeeded byas Former US Representative |
