Rebecca Otto

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Rebecca Otto
Rebecca Otto

In office
January 2, 2007 – Incumbent
Preceded by Patricia Anderson
Succeeded by Incumbent

Born July 9, 1963
Political party Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Profession Jr. High School teacher

Rebecca Otto (born July 9, 1963) is the Auditor of the U.S. state of Minnesota. She is affiliated with the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). She also served one term in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 – 2004 and on the Forest Lake Board of Education. Before entering politics, she was a junior high school science teacher. She lives on a farm near Marine on St. Croix with her husband, Shawn Lawrence Otto, a filmmaker.

[edit] Political Career

She was initially defeated for the state house in 2002 by incumbent Mark Holsten. However, the seat opened after Holsten was appointed to the office of Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Despite a heavily Republican tilt to the district, Otto defeated Matt Dean in the special election.[1]

Later in 2003, Otto and her husband were indicted by a grand jury for distributing false campaign material, a misdemeanor. Otto replied that the charges, filed by House Speaker Steve Sviggum were politically motivated and baseless.[2] Otto was supported by a number of individuals, including former Republican Governor Arne Carlson, who signed a letter criticizing the indictment. In December 2003, the charges were dismissed by a local judge and part of the law was stricken as unconstitutional.

The charges, however, impacted Otto's campaign and she lost her re-election bid in 2004.

Otto declared her candidacy for auditor in March 2005 and ran against the incumbent auditor, Patricia Anderson. She won the DFL endorsement and the general election in 2006, with the support of Carlson, who crossed party lines to support her during her legal ordeals and switched his support from Anderson to Otto in the 2006 election.

See also: Politics of Minnesota

[edit] Electoral history

  • 2006 Minnesota State Auditor
    • Rebecca Otto (DFL), 52%
    • Patricia Anderson (R) (inc.), 41%
    • Lucy Gerold (IP), 5%
    • Dave Berger (G), 2%
  • 2004 MN State House Seat 52B
    • Matt Dean (GOP), 51.59%
    • Rebecca Otto (DFL) (inc.), 48.32%
  • 2003 MN State House Seat 52B (Special Election)
    • Rebecca Otto (DFL), 54.30%
    • Matt Dean (GOP), 43.47%
  • 2002 MN State House Seat 52B
    • Mark Holsten (GOP) (inc.), 58.75%
    • Rebecca Otto (DFL), 41.17%

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Patricia Anderson
Minnesota State Auditor
2007 –
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Mark Holsten
Minnesota State Representative - 52B District
2003 – 2004
Succeeded by
Matt Dean
State Auditors in the United States
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AK: Pat Davidson
AL: Samantha Shaw
AR: Jim Wood
AZ: Debra K. Davenport
CA: John Chiang
CO: Sally Symanski
CT: Nancy Wyman
DE: R. Thomas Wagner Jr.
FL: William O. Monroe
GA: Russell W. Hinton

HI: Marion M. Higa
IA: David A. Vaudt
ID: Donna M. Jones
IL: William G. Holland
IN: Tim Berry
KS: Les Donovan
KY: Crit Luallen
LA: Steve J. Theriot
MA: Joseph DeNucci
MD: Bruce A. Myers

ME: Neria R. Douglass
MI: Thomas H. McTavish
MN: Rebecca Otto
MO: Susan Montee
MS: Phil Bryant
MT: John Morrison
NC: Les Merritt
ND: Bob Peterson
NE: Mike Foley
NH: Catherine A. Provencher

NJ: Richard Fair
NM: Hector H. Balderas
NV: Paul V. Townsend
NY: Tom Sanzillo
OH: Mary Taylor
OK: Jeff McMahan
OR: Bill Bradbury
PA: Jack Wagner
RI: Ernest A. Almonte
SC: Richard A. Eckstrom

SD: Rich Sattgast
TN: John G. Morgan
TX: John M. Keel
UT: John Schaff
VA: Walter J. Kucharski
VT: Thomas M. Salmon
WA: Michael J. Murphy
WI: Janice Mueller
WV: Glen B. Gainer III
WY: Michael Geesey