FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2010
Contact:
Craig Westover, Communications Director
Pat Anderson for State Auditor
612.309.1492
craigw@PatAndersonForAuditor.com
Pat Anderson Announces Run for State Auditor
Former State Auditor pledges to be an active State Auditor and push for reform
St. Paul – In a press conference at the State Office Building this morning, Pat Anderson announced that she is terminating her campaign for the Republican Party endorsement for governor to enter the race for State Auditor. Anderson was previously State Auditor from 2003 to 2007.
“This is a decision I do not make lightly, but after much reflection, it is a decision I make without hesitation,” said Anderson. She cited two reasons for switching from the governor’s race to auditor: The frustration and uncertainty surrounding the governor’s race and the singular focus of the Republican Party on the governor’s race.
Anderson noted that less than a month away from state caucuses rumors are still swirling that even with seven of the original nine candidates still in the race for the Republican nomination the field is not yet set, and many key players are still on the sidelines. Since Gov. Pawlenty announced that he was not running for a third term, the focus of the Republican Party has been almost exclusively on the governor’s race, she noted.
“Those two situations — the frustration and uncertainty surrounding the governor’s race and the singular focus of the Republican Party on the governor’s race — have been gnawing at me for several months,” Anderson said.
“These are serious financial times for our state. The outcome of the next election – at all levels of the ticket — will determine whether Minnesota remains a high-tax state or Minnesota restores the fundamental principles of constitutionally limited government. While I believe the conventional wisdom that a fiscally conservative Republican governor is essential to preserve some economic sanity in Minnesota, I also believe putting all the Republican Party’s eggs, and Minnesota’s future prosperity, into the one basket of the governor’s race isn’t a good idea.”
“If Republicans are going to make the fundamental government reforms I have campaigned on, the Republican Party must field strong, fiscally conservative and liberty-minded candidates for all the statewide constitutional offices,” she added.
Backed by an impressive collection of reports and research from her first term as State Auditor, Anderson emphasized her experience and her aggressive independent management of the State Auditor’s office as key differentiators between her tenure and the “passive organization” the Auditor’s office has become.
“In today’s financial climate, every penny really does count, but I will be a State Auditor that does more than look for loose change under the couch,” said Anderson. “The State Auditor is independent of both the Legislature and the Governor’s Office and has tremendous potential as a center of needed government reform. I will be an active State Auditor that uses the office to push for the necessary reforms Minnesota must make to be a competitive and prosperous state. I have a proven track record, attested to by the fact that in my reelection bid I was endorsed over the current auditor by virtually every newspaper in the state.”
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An active State Auditor is what I will be
January 12, 2010 Remarks to the Press, St. Paul, MN
Video by and with permission of Craig Stellmacher
Read the full text of Pat’s Remarks to the Press — CLICK HERE
