After serving one term in the state house, George cast his bid for a newly vacant seat in the Michigan Senate in 2002.

[5] George was reelected [6] to the senate in 2006, in a campaign against Democratic challenger and term-limited state representative Alexander Lipsey.

[7] In 2010, while attending a commencement address given by President Barack Obama for Kalamazoo Central High School's graduation, a man in the audience collapsed and George initiated CPR.

[2] On January 26, 2009, on the 172nd anniversary of Michigan's statehood,[8] George announced his plans to form a gubernatorial exploratory committee.

[10][11] George is a past-president of the Historical Society of Michigan and has authored articles on various topics including Abraham Lincoln's 1855 US Senate race,[12] Lincoln's 1856 visit to Kalamazoo,[13][14] Illinois' Canal Scrip and Macalister-Stebbins Bond Frauds,[15] Kalamazoo history,[16] and the history of the Michigan Republican Party.