A former state lawmaker is running to become the mayor of Michigan’s second-largest city.
If you pay attention to Grand Rapids politics at all, you’ve probably heard of Robert Dean. He served on the Grand Rapids school board in the 1990s, and then the city commission for years.
In 2006 he narrowly defeated his Republican opponent to become a state representative. In 2010 he ran for state Senate, but lost.
Dean has been the pastor of the New Life Church of God in Christ for 35 years.
Last November ,Grand Rapids voters approved term limits for the mayor and city commission. That means the current and longest serving mayor, George Heartwell, will be forced out of office at the end of the year.
