A Webster City man announced on Monday that he intends to seek the Democratic nomination for the 4th District Congressional seat.

Paul E. Dahl, 52, announced his candidacy in a brief press conference at City Hall in Webster City Monday afternoon.

The 4th District seat is currently held by Steve King, R-Kiron.

“It is high time that the Iowans of the 4th District retire Mr. King from office and replace him with a Representative that serves Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in equal measure,” Dahl said.

Dahl is employed as a driver with the MIDAS Council of Government in Webster City. Previously, Dahl has been employed in several positions locally, including adjunct professor of humanities at Iowa Central Community College, library director at Kendall Young Library and director of the Barr Library at the Minnesota Department of Health in St. Paul. He also owned and operated a taxi service in Webster City for a brief time.

Originally from Waterloo, Dahl has a BA from the University of Northern Iowa, a Master of Divinity from Illiff School of Divinity in Denver, and an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa.

Dahl said his campaign has seven key issues: agriculture, campaign finance reform, education, the environment, government spending, healthcare and Social Security.

He joins Spencer councilwoman Leann Jacobsen and former baseball player J.D. Scholten in seeking the Democratic nomination. Dahl suggested that the three candidates, and any others who join the race, schedule at least 12 debates before the primary in a various cities across the 4th District.

“Let’s have debates in Algona, Ames, Carroll, Fort Dodge, Harlan, Mason City, Sioux Center, Sioux City, Spencer and Storm Lake,” he said. “Let’s separate the pretenders from the contenders. I am looking forward to earning the win.”

In 2013, Dahl unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.