Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Pat Anderson: Libertarian-style Republican
The White Bear area happens to be home to two gubernatorial candidates (Susan Gaertner and Pat Anderson) from opposite sides of the aisle.
by Kristine Goodrich
Staff Writer
DELLWOOD — Former State Auditor Pat Anderson wasn’t the top vote-getter in the first GOP straw poll last month. She came in third.
That’s exactly where she wants to be, she said. In recent history, the straw poll winner hasn’t gone on to win the endorsement.
“Our goal was to be in the top three or four and we’re there,” she said.
A self-described watchdog for the taxpayers, Anderson, 43, of Dellwood, said her politics were shaped by her parents at the family dinner table.
Anderson attended Forest Lake High School where she reports she was a good student and involved in numerous school activities including speech, debate, theater, newspaper and choir.
Her first taste of power, she joked, was as a student at the University of Minnesota where she was chairwoman of the student services fees committee, which decided distribution of funds to campus student organizations. She joined the college Republicans organization and after college, worked on various political campaigns and served as executive director of Minnesotans for Term Limits.
At age 25 she was elected to the Eagan City Council, where she’d settled with her first husband. She served two terms as a council member, part of the time alongside the man she now hopes to succeed as governor. She served four years as mayor of Eagan where she perhaps most notably won a showdown with the Metropol-itan Council, which pressured the city to build more low-income ,high-density housing. Her final year on the council, City Pages named her the Best May-or in the Twin Cities.
While in city office, Anderson also was an entrepreneur. She started a direct-mail company and later bought out and expanded a third-party verification enterprise. She sold the businesses after becoming auditor.
She balanced motherhood at the same time. First came two daughters and then she and her husband adopted two boys, ages 10 and 11, from Bulgaria. They’d planned on adopting toddlers, she said, but felt compelled to rescue the boys who’d grown up in orphanages where they’d been abused. The boys were a challenge to parent at first, Anderson admitted, but they persevered with “tough love.” Anderson now also is step-mother to two teenagers.
Anderson was courted to run for a congressional seat in 2002 but instead opted to run for state auditor, defeating DFL State Treasurer Carol Johnson.
She said she’s most proud of several comprehensive studies on state financial issues, including Local Government Aid, school superintendent salaries and education spending. Some DFLers contended many of the reports were politically motivated and the recommendations too closely aligned with the GOP agenda. A League of Minnesota Cities official said the Local Government Aid report used “a faulty methodology and suspect data to reach sweeping conclusions...”
Anderson said her office’s fraud division also undertook many fraud investigations, including a fitness equipment supplier which defrauded White Bear Lake and 18 other Minnesota school districts.
“It’s unfortunate the current auditor is not very active,” Anderson said. The current auditor, Rebecca Otto, unseated Anderson in 2006 — winning by a substantial 11 percent. During the race, the two candidates sparred over accounting errors Otto alleged in the school funding report.
Anderson blames the loss on a Republican backlash that year.
“Republicans got wiped out everywhere ... I was one of the casualties,” she said.
An appointment by Gov. Tim Pawlenty kept her in state office. She served as commissioner of the Department of Employee Relations, overseeing elimination of the department by merging its functions into other areas of state government.
“I am the only commissioner to eliminate my own job; I actually signed my own layoff papers,” she said.
Anderson moved to Dellwood two years ago with her second husband, Doug Gallwas, a Mahtomedi native. She enjoys the added privacy of her larger property and it’s near her parents and many of her siblings.
“It’s sort of like coming back home,” she said.
Until just recently Anderson served as president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
Limiting government and preserving personal liberties are a centerpiece of her past and current campaigns. She’s dubbed herself a “Libertarian-style Republican” and has accepted endorsements from the Libertarian Party and organizations.
“This is an exciting time for liberty-loving Minnesotans,” said Marianne Stebbins, coordinator of the Minnesota Campaign for Liberty. “It’s our best shot in years for having a strong voice for individual liberty and limited government able to make a real difference in the way Minnesota is governed.”
Anderson said total tax structure reform is needed to remedy the state’s budget crisis. Personal taxes should be based less on income and more on consumption, she said, and commercial taxes should be applied more evenly.
“The best way to achieve economic growth is to have a positive business climate ... and create an even field for all,” she said.
If her gubernatorial bid is unsuccessful, she said she might like to start another company. If she doesn’t win, she doesn’t plan to try again.
“I think this will be my last campaign,” she said.
Kristine Goodrich can be reached at 651-407-1233 or vadnaisheight snews@presspubs.com.
That’s exactly where she wants to be, she said. In recent history, the straw poll winner hasn’t gone on to win the endorsement.
“Our goal was to be in the top three or four and we’re there,” she said.
A self-described watchdog for the taxpayers, Anderson, 43, of Dellwood, said her politics were shaped by her parents at the family dinner table.
Anderson attended Forest Lake High School where she reports she was a good student and involved in numerous school activities including speech, debate, theater, newspaper and choir.
Her first taste of power, she joked, was as a student at the University of Minnesota where she was chairwoman of the student services fees committee, which decided distribution of funds to campus student organizations. She joined the college Republicans organization and after college, worked on various political campaigns and served as executive director of Minnesotans for Term Limits.
At age 25 she was elected to the Eagan City Council, where she’d settled with her first husband. She served two terms as a council member, part of the time alongside the man she now hopes to succeed as governor. She served four years as mayor of Eagan where she perhaps most notably won a showdown with the Metropol-itan Council, which pressured the city to build more low-income ,high-density housing. Her final year on the council, City Pages named her the Best May-or in the Twin Cities.
While in city office, Anderson also was an entrepreneur. She started a direct-mail company and later bought out and expanded a third-party verification enterprise. She sold the businesses after becoming auditor.
She balanced motherhood at the same time. First came two daughters and then she and her husband adopted two boys, ages 10 and 11, from Bulgaria. They’d planned on adopting toddlers, she said, but felt compelled to rescue the boys who’d grown up in orphanages where they’d been abused. The boys were a challenge to parent at first, Anderson admitted, but they persevered with “tough love.” Anderson now also is step-mother to two teenagers.
Anderson was courted to run for a congressional seat in 2002 but instead opted to run for state auditor, defeating DFL State Treasurer Carol Johnson.
She said she’s most proud of several comprehensive studies on state financial issues, including Local Government Aid, school superintendent salaries and education spending. Some DFLers contended many of the reports were politically motivated and the recommendations too closely aligned with the GOP agenda. A League of Minnesota Cities official said the Local Government Aid report used “a faulty methodology and suspect data to reach sweeping conclusions...”
Anderson said her office’s fraud division also undertook many fraud investigations, including a fitness equipment supplier which defrauded White Bear Lake and 18 other Minnesota school districts.
“It’s unfortunate the current auditor is not very active,” Anderson said. The current auditor, Rebecca Otto, unseated Anderson in 2006 — winning by a substantial 11 percent. During the race, the two candidates sparred over accounting errors Otto alleged in the school funding report.
Anderson blames the loss on a Republican backlash that year.
“Republicans got wiped out everywhere ... I was one of the casualties,” she said.
An appointment by Gov. Tim Pawlenty kept her in state office. She served as commissioner of the Department of Employee Relations, overseeing elimination of the department by merging its functions into other areas of state government.
“I am the only commissioner to eliminate my own job; I actually signed my own layoff papers,” she said.
Anderson moved to Dellwood two years ago with her second husband, Doug Gallwas, a Mahtomedi native. She enjoys the added privacy of her larger property and it’s near her parents and many of her siblings.
“It’s sort of like coming back home,” she said.
Until just recently Anderson served as president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
Limiting government and preserving personal liberties are a centerpiece of her past and current campaigns. She’s dubbed herself a “Libertarian-style Republican” and has accepted endorsements from the Libertarian Party and organizations.
“This is an exciting time for liberty-loving Minnesotans,” said Marianne Stebbins, coordinator of the Minnesota Campaign for Liberty. “It’s our best shot in years for having a strong voice for individual liberty and limited government able to make a real difference in the way Minnesota is governed.”
Anderson said total tax structure reform is needed to remedy the state’s budget crisis. Personal taxes should be based less on income and more on consumption, she said, and commercial taxes should be applied more evenly.
“The best way to achieve economic growth is to have a positive business climate ... and create an even field for all,” she said.
If her gubernatorial bid is unsuccessful, she said she might like to start another company. If she doesn’t win, she doesn’t plan to try again.
“I think this will be my last campaign,” she said.
Kristine Goodrich can be reached at 651-407-1233 or vadnaisheight snews@presspubs.com.
 |
 |
|
| Susan Gaertner: Not one of the usual suspects | Withrow reopens its historic doors |