Sen. Chuck Grassley just invoked his inevitable death to encourage Iowa voters to re-elect their GOP governor

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is 85 years old, and he wants his state's voters to know it.

The longtime senator hasn't had much trouble winning his past seven election campaigns. But Grassley says if "something happen[s]" during his next four years in office, he wants a Republican governor in place to appoint his replacement, the Des Moines Register reports.

Current Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) replaced Terry Branstad (R) when he became the U.S. ambassador to China in 2017. As this fall's special election approaches, Reynolds is an average of 3.5 points behind Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell, per RealClearPolitics.

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That close race seems to be worrying Grassley. At Iowa's Westside Conservative Club on Wednesday, the senator confirmed he is "very, very healthy," but added that "something could happen to me in the next four years." Adding to the drama, Grassley also revealed that police have arrested someone who "threatened to murder" him, reports Iowa's The Gazette. Police reports show that a Long Island man was arrested after leaving threatening voicemails for two senators over their support of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Grassley said he was one of them.

In any case, Grassley doesn't "want a Democrat appointing my successor who would then be a Democrat, not a Republican," he said Wednesday, ominously encouraging the crowd to "keep that in mind when you work for Kim Reynolds."