After spending nearly two decades teaching students about the world of politics, an Iowa State professor is testing the waters to see if he could enter this world himself.

With enough support, Dirk Deam, professor of political science, after teaching for 17 years, will run for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District seat.

Throughout his career, Deam said he emphasized that politics should be about connecting people instead of dividing them.

Deam will run as a Democrat. Despite his choice of party, Deam’s main issue with politics today is non-partisan.

“We need to fix the way we do politics with each other,” Deam said. “Then we can decide what we are going to do.” 

Dylan Meyer, open-option sophomore, heard these lessons firsthand in the numerous classes he took with Deam.

If Deam follows the style of his teachings, Meyer imagines Deam will be a candidate who works for the people. 

“You elect me to govern and I understand what you elect me to do,” Meyer said. “I’ve got your interests in mind, but I also use my political skill, my knowledge, to do what’s best for you. Modern politics has become very team sported. I play for this team and I only do what this team wants.”

Deam matches his style of teaching to his experience as a law student. He allocates a large portion of his class time to the socratic method of teaching, with some class debate included. 

Kathryn Walker, a freshman currently enrolled in several of his classes, said having a professor question her answers, even if they are correct, can be terrifying but is something she has grown to enjoy.

“Even though it looks like he’s knocking [an answer] to the ground and you could be 100 percent right, he just wants you to be able to prove it, so that it shows that you actually know what you’re talking about,” Walker said.

Meyer spoke of how this process is very intimidating for a student taking one of Deam’s classes for the first time. He explained that students are used to being told that they are right or wrong.

Before becoming a lawyer and eventually coming to Iowa State to teach, Deam developed a background in aerospace engineering.

Deam worked on a space shuttle in California and managed flight design for the Rockwell Shuttle Operations Company in Houston.

Iowa voters elected Rep. Steve King to represent Iowa’s 4th Congressional District during the 2002 election cycle. King has held the position ever since.

During the fall of 2016, King beat his opponent, Kim Weaver, with about 61 percent of the vote.

King recently filed a federal pro-life bill that restricts abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat — also known as the heartbeat bill.

If Deam decides to run and is selected the Democratic nominee, he will have until the general election in November 2018 to put together a campaign and gain a following.

“Perhaps I’m biased because I’m taking courses with him,” Meyer said. “I think the ideas we talk about are incredibly important for a healthy democracy. If you can’t communicate with one another properly and have proper politics, then you can’t run a country. Nothing really functions.”