Chris Diebel, considered a possible candidate for the open seat in Iowa Senate district 17, announced today that he will run for the Des Moines City Council at-large seat this November. Diebel told the Des Moines Register, “I’ve spent my career working with small businesses, neighborhood associations and local chambers and I believe it’s the perfect opportunity to take that community involvement to the next level.” He is a managing director for LPCA Public Strategies, more commonly known as Jeff Link’s political consulting firm. After the jump I’ve posted Diebel’s official bio.
Diebel will be competing against Des Moines City Council member Skip Moore, who kicked off his re-election campaign last month. Moore won a tough three-way race for the open at-large seat in 2009. Michael Kiernan had left the position to become chair of the Iowa Democratic Party. In that race, many labor unions endorsed Moore, while his opponents had support from other parts of the political establishment. All three candidates were clustered together on election day, but as a close second, Moore advanced to the runoff against Leisha Barcus. He won the runoff election a few weeks later by 52 percent to 47.5 percent. Moore worked for the city for many years as an arborist before joining the city council. His campaign Facebook page touts his work on behalf of “the residents, the neighborhoods and the working families in our city.” I particularly appreciate his efforts to make Des Moines more bicycle-friendly.
With Diebel out of the running for Senate district 17, the campaign for that heavily Democratic open seat is shaping up to be a clash of two Des Moines south side political titans: Tony Bisignano and Ned Chiodo.
Bio from LPCA Public Strategies website:
Christopher Diebel offers strategic public relations, branding, reputation management, community outreach and event management services to a host of clients in the private and public sectors. Diebel started his marketing career in the world of hospitality where he represented a variety of restaurants, hotels, grocery markets and entertainment venues for more than a decade.
Prior to joining LPCA, Christopher served as Director of Marketing for Orchestrate Hospitality Management. In that role, he worked first hand with some of Central Iowa’s most popular establishments including Centro restaurant, Django Restaurant, Gateway Market & Café, Hilton Garden Inn – Des Moines/Urbandale, Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites – Altoona/Des Moines, Raccoon River Brewing Company, South Union Bakery, TownePlace Suites by Marriott – Johnston/Des Moines and Zombie Burger + Drink Lab.
Diebel is well known in the community for his extensive work in the not-for-profit sector. In 2008, Christopher was among the youngest professionals to be named one of Des Moines’ “Forty Under Forty,” an annual list published by the Business Record highlighting the community’s top business leaders under the age of 40. In 2010, he was honored by Juice magazine as Central Iowa’s “Young Professional of the Year.” He is actively involved with a variety of charitable committees annually, and serves on the board of the Des Moines-Westside Chamber of Commerce, Winefest Des Moines, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines Arts Festival and the Iowa Legal Aid Foundation. Christopher holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Masters in Public Administration from Drake University.
The Des Moines Register article noted that Diebel “recently served as operations chairman for Des Moines’ RAGBRAI committee.” By all accounts, the RAGBRAI events scheduled during the overnight stop in Des Moines ran smoothly despite enormous crowds.