In 1999, Mulyadi began his political career as member of Purwakarta's house of representatives for
Golkar and the electoral district Tegalwaru. He subsequently was vice-secretary and secretary until he became leader of Golkar's local chapter in 2004. At the age of 32, Mulyadi became the youngest vice-regent, serving under Lily Hambali Hasan's regency over Purwakarta from 2003 to 2008. and again for a second term in 2013. Mulyadi succeeded Irianto MS Syafiuddin as leader of Golkar in its West Java branch in 2016. In 2015–2016,
Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) started campaigning against the Dedi Mulyadi administration in Purwakarta. FPI accused the Mulyadi of being a
musyrik (polytheist) after he put up statues of
Sundanese puppet characters in a number of parks throughout Purwakarta. The FPI also has accused Dedi of debasing Islamic tenets by using the
Sundanese greeting
sampurasun, instead of the more Islamic
as-salamu alaykum. In December 2015, around a hundred FPI members inspected cars passing through the front gate of
Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in
Central Jakarta where the Indonesia Theater Federation Award was being held, trying to stop Mulyadi from attending the event. He ran as running mate to
Deddy Mizwar in the
2018 gubernatorial election for West Java, but the pair lost. His term as regent expired on 13 March 2018.
Member of Parliament Party uniform Mulyadi ran as a candidate to the
People's Representative Council for the
2019 legislative election representing West Java's 7th electoral district under
Golkar and secured a seat. Mulyadi also became the head of the West Java
campaign team for
Joko Widodo in the
2019 Indonesian presidential election. Mulyadi later called for Jakarta's reintegration with West Java following
plans to move the capital away from Jakarta, citing historical associations and integrated transport networks. In May 2023, Mulyadi resigned from
Golkar and joined
Gerindra. For the
2024 Indonesian general election, he ran as a candidate for Gerindra in the same electoral district. He received 375,658 votes, which was the second largest vote share nationwide after
Said Abdullah from East Java XI.
Governor In 2024, Mulyadi ran for governor of West Java in the
2024 gubernatorial election, picking Erwan Setiawan as his running mate from the
Advanced Indonesia Coalition ticket. The ticket registered themselves to the West Java branch of
General Elections Commission. The pair won a landslide victory in the four-way race, securing 14.3 million votes (62%) and winning the most votes in all 27 of West Java's regencies and cities. He was sworn in on 20 February 2025. One of his first actions as governor was to fire a public school principal who had violated a gubernatorial instruction prohibiting school trips leaving the province. Dedi Mulyadi caught under fire for sending misbehaving children to the
army barracks to get rehabilitated. Some parents reported him to the
National Commission on Human Rights because they view Dedi's policy deprive the human rights of the child and deviated away from the purpose of education. One such parent said that Dedi has overstepped his authority as governor and the rehabilitation policy is not clearly understood. However, such policy has received support from
Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai, who said that he would consider enacting Dedi's policy on a nationwide scale, saying that such misbehaving children who love creating chaos and engaging in street fights should be sent to be trained by the
Indonesian National Armed Forces to get their mentality, character and discipline in shape. Dedi Mulyadi appreciated the criticism, stating his belief that all criticisms are based on concerns of children and teenagers for their better future and said he is open for collaboration to solve the problem. According to a poll taken by Indikator on 12–19 May 2025, his approval rating reached 95%, with 41% being "very satisfied". A subsequent poll by Litbang Kompas on 1–5 July 2025 also found that his approval rating was 97.2% and favorability rating 98.6%. == Political ideology ==