A Democrat who grew up in northwest Iowa and has retired to southeast Iowa hopes to run against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in 2010. Fifty-nine-year-old Bob Krause grew up near the small northwest Iowa town of Fenton; he now lives in Fairfield.

"Senator Grassley has served honorably and has done a lot of good for the nation and the state over the last 51 years," Krause says. "…It’s time for a different perspective."

Grassley was elected to the Iowa House in 1958. In 1974, Grassley was elected to the U.S. House and he’s been a United States senator since 1981. Krause suggests that’s long enough. "It’s time for a change," he says.

Krause was elected to the Iowa legislature when he was 22 years old and served six years representing his hometown area before running unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 1978. Krause has worked behind the scenes on campaigns dating back to 1970 and he worked in the Carter Administration as a regional official for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Krause admits he’s "bounced around" the country, trying his hand at a small business, before signing on as an Iowa State University professor. "Ultimately, I wound up with the Iowa D.O.T. and I was there for a number of years until I retired in 2008," Krause says.

He’s written a few books and worked as a consultant in this country and overseas for a wide array of clients, including defense contractors. "I tried to go out and do the things that other people in the world do," Krause says. "I went out, tried to make a living, tried to be creative with my life, tried to give service in different areas."

Krause, who retired after 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, is a member of the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee and he’s chairman of the Iowa Democratic Veterans’ Caucus. Krause has scheduled an event at the Fort Des Moines Historical Museum on Saturday at 12:15 to announce he’s formed an "exploratory committee" for a U.S. Senate campaign.

Senator Grassley has made it clear he intends to seek reelection in 2010. Grassley won his last reelection campaign in 2004 with 70 percent of the vote.