Professor David Brock knew since the age of seven that he wanted to run for public office.

The opportunity to fulfill this dream first presented itself while Brock was still an undergraduate at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. The Democratic chairman of Cuyahoga County in Brock’s home state of Ohio called him with an interesting proposal.

“He said, ‘Would you be interested in running for state representative?’” So I thought about it.  It’s a tough Republican district, but I said I’d run,” Brock said.

Brock won the primary election, but fell short in the general election to his Republican opponent, who was the incumbent.

“(I knew I) was probably going to lose, but it was a good chance to get my name out there and go out and meet people and hone the skills that I have,” Brock said of the experience.

After the election, Brock continued pursuing his undergraduate degree in political science. Upon graduation, he pursued a Masters degree in history from Cleveland State University. Brock then traveled to Columbia to acquire a Ph.D. in History from MU.

After a year working with a historian at the university, a teaching position opened up at Stephens.

Brock is currently in his sixth year of teaching at Stephens, and it will be his last.

David Brock during his first campaign for State Representative in Ohio. (Photo Courtesy of David Brock)

At the end of the semester, he will move back to Ohio to begin preparing to run a second time for public office.

“I’ve been pleased and I’ve liked the experience teaching at Stephens but I think I’ll have more impact in the political realm,” Brock said. “I guess the reason why I haven’t ran again is because there were other things in life that I wanted to do, to see. But, I always kept the idea (of running) in the back of my mind.”

A few years ago, Brock briefly toyed with the idea of running for state House here in Boone County. Although he has enjoyed his experiences in Columbia, both his heart and head are in Ohio.

Brock expects that he will run in the city of Cleveland.

“I don’t know if it will be a city wide office or a state office.  Probably state House. That’s what I’m hoping for,” Brock said about his decision to run.

Brock said that this year’s election brought attention to the reasons he chose to run for office in the first place.

“With it being right after an election, when you see the issues and the people, it’s these things that remind you, ‘this is what I want to do,’” Brock said.

If Brock’s bid for office is successful, he would like to aid in the city of Cleveland’s recovery.

“So many of our big cities are really struggling. They’re losing population to suburbs. I’m a person that really likes the city life and things that provide diversity and culture. I want to bring people back into the city,” Brock said.

Among major issues, Brock cites education, reindustrialization and job-production as big issues on his radar.

Although he will miss the interactions among faculty and students, Brock looks forward to the near future.

“It was the Greeks that said politics is an honorable profession and that’s something that Robert Kennedy would say all the time. I think that’s still true, at least as much as teaching is an honorable profession,” Brock said. “There are people who take advantage of both and do both poorly, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t both honorable and rewarding.”