Another Democrat has joined the race for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Senate seat. 

Bob Krause, a Democrat who represented portions of the Palo Alto and Humboldt counties in the Iowa House for three terms, from 1973 to 1979, said that Grassley’s time in the Senate hasn’t been good for the state and the country. 

Krause, born in 1950, was eight years old when Grassley was first elected in the Iowa House, and served alongside him for Grassley’s last two years in the Legislature before Grassley went on to the U.S. House and then the U.S. Senate. 

“Now, self-serving greed and power lust have destroyed the idea of the greater good for many people,” he said. “In short, we need to restore ‘Iowa nice’ to our political fabric.” 

Grassley announced he would pursue an eighth term in the U.S. Senate two weeks ago. He was first elected as a U.S. Senator in 1980. 

Former U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenaur has emerged as Grassley’s most prominent Democratic challenger. 

Democrats Dave Muhlbauer, the former Vice Chairman of the Crawford County Board of Supervisors, and Glenn Hurst, a rural physician and City Council member, have also announced campaigns.

Grassley also faces a Republican challenger in Sen. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City, who announced he was running for the U.S. Senate seat in February. 

Krause said it would be a hard race in both the primary and general election. 

Krause ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 and 2016 Senate races. He was also a candidate in the 2014 gubernatorial race, but he dropped out six months before the primary election. 

Krause said win or lose, he will elevate the battle of ideas. Key issues he said he wanted to combat in his seven-minute campaign announcement video were changing voting laws, election lies, economic elitism, and climate change.

“We are in the midst of a gathering storm, and this election is about saving our democracy from destruction,” Krause said. “Simply put, I care to be part of the solution.”