Richard Posthumus (; born July 19, 1950) is an American businessman, and politician. He was the 61st

Lieutenant Governor of Michigan The lieutenant governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor. The current lieutenant governor by default is Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, who has held the office since January 1, 2019. Proc ...

and

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, he was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as th ...

. Posthumus grew up on a dairy farm in

Alto, Michigan Alto is an unincorporated community in Bowne Township, Kent County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. Geography Alto is situated on Pratt Lake Creek, at the intersection of Bancroft Avenue and 60th Street, just west of M-50, about two miles so ...

, outside of Grand Rapids. He graduated from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, during which he served as chairman of the

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various inde ...

and as a vice chairman of the

Michigan Republican Party The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, sometimes referred to as MIGOP. Ronald Weiser was elected chairman in 2021. Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been e ...

. In 1971, he managed the successful

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

campaign of fellow student and future Michigan governor

John Engler John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he later worked for Business Roundtable, where ''The Hill'' ...

. Posthumus was elected to the Senate in 1982 and became majority leader in 1990, when Engler was elected governor. His 1982 campaign was managed by

Saul Anuzis Saulius "Saul" Anuzis (born March 6, 1959) is the president of the 60 Plus Association and a Republican Party politician from the U.S. State of Michigan. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005–2009 and was also a candidate f ...

. Posthumus was the longest serving majority leader in the history of the Senate. Posthumus joined Engler on as his running mate and candidate for lieutenant governor in 1998 and went on to serve in that post for four years. He was the Republican nominee for governor in

, having defeated Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary, but lost to Democrat

Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-American lawyer, educator, author, political commentator, and politician serving as the 16th United States secretary of energy since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she prev ...

in the general election. He joined Compatico in 2005 and became the chief executive officer in 2006. On November 8, 2010, Governor-elect Rick Snyder named Posthumus to be his senior adviser and legislative

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

Personal life

Posthumus married Pam Bartz in 1972. They had four children together, and seven grandchildren. Pam died of cancer on August 18, 2010. Posthumus married Beth Ann (Mihlethaler) Fogg on September 24, 2011. Dick's son, Bryan, is a Michigan state representative, and advocate for Alcoholic's Anonymous.

Electoral history

* 2002 election for Governor **

(D), 51% ** Dick Posthumus (R), 47% * 2002 election for Governor – Republican Primary ** Dick Posthumus (R), 81% ** Joe Schwarz (R), 19%

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Posthumus, Dick 1950 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American people of Dutch descent College Republicans Lieutenant Governors of Michigan Living people Michigan Republicans Michigan state senators Michigan State University alumni People from Kent County, Michigan