Patricia Anderson

"Pat Anderson" redirects here. For the American actress, see Pat Anderson (actress).
Pat Anderson
17th Minnesota State Auditor
In office
January 6, 2003 – January 2, 2007
Preceded by Judi Dutcher
Succeeded by Rebecca Otto
Personal details
Born June 4, 1966
St. Paul, Minnesota
Political party Republican Party of Minnesota
Profession business owner, former "think tank" president

Patricia "Pat" 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 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

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.[2]

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.

Anderson ran for re-election to a second term in 2006. She faced Democratic former State Representative Rebecca Otto in the general election. After Otto discovered hundreds of millions of dollars in financial errors made by Anderson,[3] she won the election by the largest margin of victory over an incumbent in 112 years (since 1894). Former Governor Arne Carlson, who had crossed party lines to support Otto during her legal ordeals, also switched his support from Anderson to Otto in the 2006 election. Otto was also endorsed by former State Auditors Mark Dayton and Judi Dutcher.

State Commissioner

In January 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty nominated her for a position is his cabinet as Commissioner of Employee Relations, with her responsibilities including the merger of that agency into the Department of Finance. At the time, news sources noted that, at the Governor's direction, she intentionally worked herself out of a job in order to promote greater efficiency in government.[4] She also served as President of the Minnesota Free Market Institute.

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.[5] However, on January 12, 2010, she announced that she was withdrawing from the governor's race and would again run for State Auditor.[6] 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.[7] On May 19, 2012, Janet Biehoffer defeated Anderson 215-124 in her quest for a full term as a national committeewoman to the RNC.[8] Anderson's campaign suffered as many of the state central committee members were upset by the election of Ron Paul supporters as delegates to the Republican National Convention. Biehoffer's campaign was largely funded by Native America casino interests in response to Anderson's lobbying for Racino.

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Political offices
Preceded by
Judi Dutcher		 Minnesota State Auditor
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Rebecca Otto