Michael Dean

Michael Dean is executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, a statewide nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization that works to promote fair and clean elections, create an independent redistricting process, and make government open and accountable to its citizens. Over the three years, Dean has worked to transform a dormant state chapter of Common Cause into an important voice on government watchdog in Minnesota. Shortly after the Citizens United decision, which allows corporations to make political expenditures, Common Cause Minnesota pushed through a landmark disclosure bill that brought these types of contributions into the sunlight. It is that law that helped spark a national backlash against Target Corporation for making a political contribution to Tom Emmer. Dean graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations.