Greg Ganske

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Greg Ganske
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 4th 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 72) New Hampton, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	University of Iowa (BA, MD)

John Greg Ganske (born March 31, 1949) is an American politician, plastic surgeon, and retired U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel from Iowa. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Iowa in 2002.

Early life and education[]

Ganske was born in New 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 the University of Iowa with a B.A.with honors in political science and general science in 1972. In 1976, Ganske graduated from the University 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.

Career[]

Beginning in 1984, Ganske worked as a plastic surgeon in Des Moines taking care of women with breast cancer, children with birth defects, and trauma victims. He also managed a 160-acre farm and served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1994, he challenged veteran Democratic Congressman Neal Smith. Ganske campaigned in a cream 1958 DeSoto (Smith having won his first congressional race in that year) and played "Golden Oldy" songs from that era. Known as the "Nealmobile," the DeSoto was named the "Best Campaign Gimmick" of 1994 by "Campaigns and Elections Magazine."

The first-time Republican candidate also joined all of the non-incumbent Republican U.S. House candidates that year in signing the “Contract With America,” which nationalized congressional elections.  Among the measures the signers vowed to bring to a vote were welfare and tort reform, shrinking the size of government, and promoting lower taxes and greater entrepreneurship.

He also promised to serve no more than four terms in the House and to support a Balanced Budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Ganske differed from most of the Republican congressional candidates in that, while eventually voting 90% pro-life in the House, he opposed overturning the Supreme's Court 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

Smith had previously represented a district that was more or less coextensive with the Des Moines metropolitan area. Redistricting 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, by running up large margins in southwestern Iowa.

Ganske overcame encephalitis contracted on a surgical mission during his 1996 re-election campaign, was re-elected, and 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. Ganske ran for the United States Senate against incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin in 2002. He easily won the Republican nomination, but lost to Harkin by 10 points.

In Congress[]

Frequently described as a fiscal conservative and social moderate in Congress, Ganske served on the House Energy Committee.  As one of the high-profile lawmakers behind the “Contract With America,” he made the final floor speech for the Balanced Budget Amendment and was also involved in banking deregulation.

As one of the few Republican lawmakers wanting to regulate tobacco, Ganske co-authored the Ganske-Dingell Food and Drug Administration Tobacco Authority Bill.  He also wrote the Hamburger Safety Act, which was incorporated into the FDA Modernization Act, and the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1995 (which President Clinton signed into law the following year).

Ganske was also one of a handful of Republicans to support the McCain-Feingold campaign finance measure that enhanced regulation of money in federal campaigns and signed a discharge position to get the measure to President Bush’s desk in 2002.

Widely considered one of the most authoritative lawmakers of either party on the issue of health care, Ganske was co-author of the Patients’ Bill of Rights to address the controversy over HMOs denying necessary care to patients. Ganske supported impeachment of resident Clinton in 1998 and voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq President Saddam Hussein in the event he did not allow United Nations nuclear inspectors into Iraq.

In October, 1999, Ganske was  highlighted by the Congressional Quarterly 50 as one of the most effective Congressmen in the "Maverick" category.)

After Congress

Upon leaving Congress in 2003, Ganske returned to his surgical practice in Des Moines and retired in 2020.

A supporter of George W. Bush for president in 2000, he was state co-chair of John McCain’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign in 2012.

Personal life[]

During medical school, Ganske met and married his wife, Corrine Mikkelson.   She is a family physician educator and served as Director of the Iowa Lutheran Hospital Family Practice Residency. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Honors

Omicron delta Kappa, honorary men’s leadership, 1971                

Wrestling Coaches Speaker Award, 1995

American Psychiatric Association Public Service Award, 1995

Iowa Hospitals Health Systems Coalition for Fairness in Medicare Award, 1995, 1996

Oregon Health Sciences University Distinguished Alumni Award, 1996

American Society of Plastic Surgeons Presidential Award, 1996

Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, 1997

National Multiple Sclerosis Society Representative of the Year Award,  1997

The AMA Nathan Davis Award for public service, 1998

University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award, 2006

Outstanding American from Iowa Award from National Wrestling Hall of Fame, 2008

University of Iowa Political Science Department Advisory Committee, 2018 to present.

Publications

Ganske, J.G. et al. Breast Reconstruction after mastectomy, Contemp. Surg. 1980:16:13-14

Ganske, J.G. et al.  Treatment of Fingertip Injuries with Split Thickness Skin Grafts. Contemp. Surg. 1980:16 87-89

Ganske, J.G., et al Amnion: A useful biologic Dressing.  Contemp. Surg. 1980 17: 65-66.

Ganske, J.G., et al.  Outpatient Treatment of Minor Burns. Hosp. Med. 1981 17: 40-43.

Ganske, J.G. et al. Ecthyma Contagiosum (Orf).  Plastic and Reconst. Surg. 1981: 779-780.

Ganske, J.G. et al Comparison of expanded polytetrafluorethylene microvascular grafts to autogenous vein grafts. Plast.Reconstr. Surg. Aug, 1982: 193-201.

Ganske, J.G., Enlarged Median Nerve of Macrodactyly Associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Ia. Med.  August, 1986, 364-365.

Ganske, J.G. Toe to Hand Transfer as an Option for Thumb Reconstruction. Ia. Med., Dec., 1987, 596-599.

Ganske, J.G.,  Plastic Surgery in Adolescents. American Academy of Pediatrics Health letter, Vol. 10;1, 1989, 21-22.

Ganske, J.G.,  Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy.  Ia. Med. Aug, 1989, 381-384.

Ganske, J.G., Lower Limb Salvage with Microvascular Tissue Transfer. Mercy Medicine and Surgery, Spring, 1990, 15-17.

Ganske, J.G. , Joint Microvascular Transfer Plast. Reconstr. Surg., Nov. 1991, 918.

Ganske, J.G., Carlstrom, Thomas, Bone Graft and Craniofacial Reconstruction.  Iowa Medicine, Oct. 1990.

Ganske, J.G. Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment in a Community Setting.  Hawkeye Osteopathic Journal.  March?April 1992.

Ganske, J.G. Reduction Mammaplasty.  Hawkeye Osteopathic Journal. January/February, 1993.

On Politics and Medicine.  George H. Monks Lecture. Harvard Medical School,  Boston, MA, October 3, 1998.

Ganske, J.G.  Lessons in Leadership Learned From Dr. Murray.  J. Craniofacial Surg. 24, Number 1, January 2013.

Links

Articles

Greg Ganske: Where we've been and where we're going with COVID-19. Our elected officials have the tough job of continuing to make difficult decisions ...

May 2, 2021 — Some 40 Iowa counties are seeing such a slowdown in vaccine need ... GREG GANSKE COMMENTARY:Why we need to know the origin of ...

Sep 20, 2020 — They pride themselves on “following the science” and are highly respected by the population. Greg Ganske. Iowa View contributor.

Nov 12, 2020 — Greg Ganske. Iowa View contributor. Who gets the COVID vaccine first — the bread maker, or Santa? Silly question? It arose during the 2009 ...

Jan 9, 2021 — Greg Ganske. Iowa View contributor ... The Iowa Department of Public Health is already being petitioned by ... to those who are registered for emergency alerts (like hurricanes and amber ... 2021 www.desmoinesregister.com.

4 days ago — Former Iowa congressman: Ultimately, CRT reinforces group stereotypes, shames meaningful dialogue, and worsens race relations.

External links[]

• United States Congress. "Greg Ganske (id: G000041)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN