DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republicans have recruited a retired Air Force officer to challenge Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal in next year’s election. Pottawattamie County Republicans say they’ve picked Al Ringgenberg to run against Gronstal, saying Ringgenberg has impeccable credentials.

Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, was elected to the Iowa House in 1982, and won a Senate seat two years later. He used his power this year to block debate on a measure allowing voters to have their say on amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He also was deeply involved in efforts to block a Nebraska doctor from opening a late-term abortion clinic in Council Bluffs.

The House and Senate could not agree on an abortion measure and nothing was passed.