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Patricia Anderson

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For other people with the same name, see Pat Anderson (disambiguation).

Pat Anderson
17th Auditor of Minnesota
In office
January 6, 2003 – January 2, 2007
GovernorTim Pawlenty
Preceded byJudi Dutcher
Succeeded byRebecca Otto
Personal details
Born (1966-06-04) June 4, 1966 (age 58)
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ProfessionBusiness owner, former "think tank" president

Patricia "Patti" Anderson (born June 4, 1966) is an American politician from the State of Minnesota and a member of the Republican Party. She served as the 17th State Auditor of Minnesota, from 2003 to 2007. Prior to this, she was Mayor of Eagan, Minnesota for four years after serving as a city council member for eight years. She also owned Capitol Companies, a direct mail and third party verification business. She is also a former national committeewoman for Minnesota to the Republican National Committee.[1]

Early life

Anderson is a 1984 graduate of Forest Lake Area High School.[2] She attended college and received her bachelor's degree at the University of Minnesota, and later went on to earn a M.A. in Public Administration from Hamline University in Saint Paul.[3]

Anderson served as a city council woman, and later mayor, in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul suburb of Eagan, Minnesota. During her term as mayor, she was named best mayor in the state by City Pages in 2002.[4]

State Auditor

Anderson defeated State Treasurer Carol Johnson, the Democratic–Farmer–Labor nominee, and Independence Party nominee Dave Hutcheson in the 2002 State Auditor election. Incumbent Democrat Judi Dutcher had opted not to seek re-election, running unsuccessfully for Governor of Minnesota. Anderson was elected as Pat Anderson Awada, the name she held prior to the finalization of her divorce in 2004. During her term as Auditor, she earned a reputation as a "taxpayer watchdog".[5]

Anderson ran for re-election to a second term in 2006, and earned endorsements from every major state newspaper. She lost to Democratic State Representative Rebecca Otto in the general election, part of the Democratic wave election that year.

Commissioner of Employee Relations

In January 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty nominated her for a position is his cabinet as Commissioner of Employee Relations, her responsibilities included the merger of that agency into the Department of Finance.[5]

President of Minnesota Free Market Institute

From 2008 to 2009, Anderson served as President of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. She said that as President she hoped to expand the institute by adding personnel and partnering with nonprofits with similar goals.[6] After Anderson left, the organization was later merged into the Center of the American Experiment, last filing tax returns in 2011.[7]

2010 elections

On July 15, 2009, Anderson announced that she was running for Governor of Minnesota in the 2010 election. She touted herself as a "Libertarian-style Republican" who opposes corporate subsidies and represents the party's shifting priorities.[8] However, on January 12, 2010, she announced that she was withdrawing from the governor's race and would again run for State Auditor.[9] Anderson lost her election bid to incumbent Rebecca Otto by 25,483 votes.

RNC

On April 16, 2011, Anderson was elected national committeewoman for Minnesota to the Republican National Committee to serve out the remaining term of Evie Axdahl, who retired. She garnered 180 votes from delegates to the Republican Party of Minnesota's state central committee meeting in Bloomington.[1] On May 19, 2012, Janet Biehoffer defeated Anderson 215–124 in her quest for a full term as a national committeewoman to the RNC.[10] Anderson's campaign suffered as many of the state central committee members were upset by Anderson's lobbying for Racino.[11]

Racino lobbyist

Shortly, after being elected to the Republican National Committee, Anderson became a lobbyist for Canterbury Park Racetrack, and beginning lobbying for Racino, which was against the Republican Party Platform, which opposed an expansion of gambling in Minnesota.[12] Many Republicans criticized Anderson for failing to disclose her intention to become a lobbyist for a gambling enterprise while running for the RNC.[13][14]

2018 elections

In 2018, Anderson ran for Minnesota House Representative in District 38B, in the north-east suburbs of the Twin Cities.[15] The district was then represented by Representative Matt Dean, who left to mount a bid for Governor of Minnesota in the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Her bid was notable in that she had moved to the area late in her political career; Eagan, the city she was previously mayor of, was not within or adjacent to the district.

In something of an upset, Anderson lost the House race to Ami Wazlawik, a Democrat from White Bear Township, by a 1 percent margin. Wazlawik's win was part of a larger trend towards the Democratic Party in the Twin Cities suburbs during the 2018 Minnesota House of Representatives election.

References

  1. ^ a b "Minnesota GOP Elects Pat Anderson RNC National Committeewoman And Jeff Johnson RNC National Committeeman". 2012 Presidential Campaign Blog.
  2. ^ "Home - Patti Anderson for State Representative". Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  3. ^ "Pat Anderson Bio « Minnesota Free Market Institute". Archived from the original on June 24, 2009. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  4. ^ "Awada says school districts need to be accountable - Albert Lea Tribune". Albert Lea Tribune. September 18, 2002. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Agency chief must make one layoff: herself". Twin Cities. July 7, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  6. ^ "Ex-auditor heads free market group". November 11, 2008.
  7. ^ "2011 - 990 Tax Returns for Minnesota Free Market Institute" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Star Tribune July 15, 2009: "Pat Anderson, ex-state auditor, to run for governor"". Star Tribune.
  9. ^ "GOP's Anderson quits gov's race; says Coleman a factor". Star Tribune.
  10. ^ Bierschbach, Briana (May 20, 2012). "GOP activist Janet Beihoffer wins RNC Committeewoman race".
  11. ^ "Is Pat Anderson that indespensible?".
  12. ^ "Pat Anderson now a racino lobbyist". MPR News.
  13. ^ Gilmore, John Hugh (April 29, 2011). "Minnesota Conservatives: The Republican Party's Gambling Problem".
  14. ^ Bierschbach, Briana (April 27, 2011). "RNC committeewoman Pat Anderson at odds with party over gaming lobbying".
  15. ^ "Former State Auditor Pat Anderson running for MN House". December 14, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by Minnesota State Auditor
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
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