‘Love Boat’ Actor Is ‘Home at Last’--and in House, Too

Actor Fred Grandy, who won a narrow victory in Iowa’s 6th District congressional race, says he no longer has to prove he is an Iowan.

“Home at last,” he said after a victory speech Tuesday night.

Grandy’s home was a key issue in the campaign. His opponent, Democrat Clayton Hodgson, contended that Grandy, although an Iowa native, was a carpetbagger because he had not lived in Iowa since being orphaned at age 12.

Grandy, 38, played the bumbling purser Gopher Smith on the television series “Love Boat.”

“It was a cartoon candidacy when I started,” Grandy said. “It began a slow, painstaking process of legitimacy. It took a long time for people to take us seriously.”