It is also a popular given name in Japan. Erica is also the name of a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, commonly known as heaths or heathers in English, and is the Latin word for heather.
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 79th Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009. Dean was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Presidential Election, 2004.
Dean was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1982 and was elected lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions that enabled him to continue practicing medicine. In 1991, Dean became governor of Vermont when Richard A. Snelling died in office. Dean was subsequently elected to five two-year terms, serving from 1991 to 2003, making him the second longest-serving governor in Vermont history, after Thomas Chittenden (1778â1789 and 1790â1791).