Krause announces campaign appointments

Fairfield Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Bob Krause has announced he's opened a campaign headquarters at 2127 High St., Des Moines and that James Marren of Des Moines wikll be his campaign director.

Marren, long-time Democratic party activist, is a Vietnam veteran who served as a combat medic. He became active in Democratic politics after Ronald Reagan's election in 1980.

He's worked for a number of Democratic campaigns in Iowa, including the presidential campaigns of Bill Bradley and John Kerry, as well as the state legislative campaign of Iowa Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad. Marren has served on the state rules committee for the Iowa Democratic Party, has been active in numerous campaigns for local issues and candidates and did advance work in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Joe Stutler of Cedar Rapids, a disabled veteran who served in the first Gulf War, will serve as political adviser in addition to managing the campaign's Web site – www.KrauseforIowa.com -- and information technology systems. Stutler is currently secretary of the Linn County Democratic Central Committee, is an officer of the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus and serves on the State Democratic Central Committee He was active as a regional leader of Veterans for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.

 Keith Dinsmore, another veteran of Democratic campaigns in Iowa for more than 30 years, will serve as communications director for the campaign. A longtime friend of the candidate going back to 1977, Dinsmore has handled press operations for Krause since his candidacy was announced last May. A former newspaper publisher in several southeastern Iowa communities, Dinsmore was Iowa communications director for the Carter-Mondale campaign in 1980 and played a similar role in the Gephardt for President committee in 1988.  He was active in Bill Bradley's 2000 presidential campaign as served as communications director for Joe Biden's presidential campaign in Iowa in 2008.