First candidate in Senate 39

I knew Michael Moore had crossed over to the GOP to endorse Alan Keyes in the mosh pit, but what's this I hear about him running for the Iowa Senate as a Republican?




What? Wrong guy?

A very different Michael Moore is the first Republican candidate in open, evenly split Senate District 39, where GOP incumbent Sandy Greiner announced her retirement recently.

This Michael Moore, 66, doesn't have an Oscar but he IS the CEO of the United Presbyterian Home in Washington and a former Washington city council and school board member.

Moore's campaigning in the northern, Johnson County half of the district Sunday at a birthday fundraiser for supervisor John Etheredge. (The birthday is number 29; in my shock at John's partisan breakthrough in the March election I forgot to note his other achievement: he broke the record for our youngest supervisor. Terrence Neuzil was 30 when he won his first term in 2000.) Also expected: congressional candidate Mark Lofgren and Senate candidate David Young. That's the Grassley staffer guy, not the radio guy or the football guy or the other guy.

Senate 39 is exactly half in Johnson County, covering the west and south part of the county and including North Liberty and Tiffin. Democrat Sally Stutsman has that House seat. The south half of the district is most of Washington County and all of Keokuk County. Republican Jarad Klein holds that house seat and has announced he is not seeking the Senate seat.

The party registration is close but there's no electoral track record yet for this new district. The old district, where Greiner beat Democrat Becky Schmitz in 2010, went further south and included a smaller part of Johnson. Greiner then held over in 2012.