Dianne Byrum

Who is Dianne Byrum?

Dianne Yvonne Byrum is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. She resides in Onondaga Township in Ingham County. She is now a partner with Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications, an East Lansing, Mich.-based public relations firm that she founded with Mark Fisk, the former Communications Director for the Michigan House Democratic Caucus.

Byrum has been elected to numerous public offices, most recently as a member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. Prior to that, Byrum served on the Michigan State House of Representatives from the 67th District, where she served as the first-ever woman Democratic House Leader. Byrum was term limited out of that office at the end of 2006. Her daughter, Barb Byrum, was elected to replace her in the House of Representatives.

Byrum was previously elected to serve two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 58th District, serving from 1991 to 1994. She then served in the Michigan Senate representing the 25th District, from 1995 to 2002. She was also an Ingham County Commissioner from 1983 to 1990. In 2000, she ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Michigan's 8th Congressional district. She lost to Republican Mike Rogers by only 111 votes, making it the closest Congressional election in the United States that year.