A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represented District 38B, which included portions of Ramsey and Washington counties in the eastern Twin Cities metropolitan area.

He served as the Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, having been selected by his caucus for the position on November 6, 2010.

[1][3] Dean briefly campaigned for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2018 before dropping out in January of that year, citing the desire to unify the party around one candidate.

[5] Gaiman's fee was taken from a special fund established to bring authors in to speak at local libraries.

Dean took issue with the expenditure, saying that Gaiman was an author he hated, and describing him as a "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota."