Political veteran Mike Dean, trounced in his bid to extend his career on the Mobile County Commission, said he was not ready to leave politics behind and might set his sights on an opening in the Alabama Senate.
A possible Senate run
Dean, 56, said he was weighing a run for the State Senate District 35 seat. A special election was expected once state Sen. Ben Brooks joined the Mobile County Circuit Court bench later in the year, having won the Republican nomination for a judgeship in April with no Democrat qualifying to oppose him. State Rep. Jim Barton, R-104, was already running for the Senate seat, but Dean argued he was better suited for it. “A lot of people think I ought to run for the Senate as someone who is well-qualified, moreso than Barton,” Dean said. Barton declined to respond.
Dean also noted that a Barton win would create yet another vacancy — in House District 104 — and burden taxpayers with the cost of an additional special election. “If I decide to run again, it would probably be for Senate instead of the House,” he said. “I haven’t made my mind up yet. I’ll wait til the first of the year and see how things look.”
Loyalty and its limits
Despite the loss, Dean sounded relieved to have the campaign behind him — “It just feels like a whole piano has been taken off my back.” He credited the winner, political newcomer Jerry Carl, with rallying supporters “like it was a crusade,” led by well-known Baptist minister Fred Wolfe. “I’ve never campaigned against a pastor before,” Dean said. “But I have no regrets. It was a great run, 12 years.”
One consequence of Dean’s defeat was the removal of the Atchison Firm from all county legal work relating to District 3. In a message to County Attorney Jay Ross, Dean directed that any legal work the firm previously handled be redirected to attorney J. Michael Druhan, calling the instruction “non-negotiable.” Dean said he had been stunned to learn that Jim Atchison had backed Carl. “Absolutely no loyalty,” he said. “I was loyal to him for 12 years and he couldn’t be loyal back to me.” Atchison said he had no comment for the time being.
Optimism for the county
Even in transition, Dean spoke expansively about the region’s prospects. “Not a county in this state can compete with us,” he said, pointing to a chamber of commerce pipeline of 16 projects. For a departing commissioner, the message was that Mobile County was, in his view, poised for major opportunities — even as he weighed whether his own political career would continue in Montgomery.