After a hard fought three-ballot victory, Pat Anderson praised the campaigns of her competitors, noting that a tough endorsement battle is good for the party and a good sign for the coming election.
“We aren’t a party that anoints candidates,” said Anderson. “Every endorsed candidate has to do the work and earn the support of the grassroots of the party. The GOP endorsement means something special.”
Anderson wasted no time in putting her campaign into general election gear, laying out the differences between her and DFL incumbent Rebecca Otto.
“Rebecca Otto claims she gets no respect,” Anderson told delegates. (Otto has self-described her office as the “Rodney Dangerfield” of constitutional offices.) “And she’s right.” Anderson said. “She doesn’t get respect. You have to earn respect, and completely overwhelmed by the Auditor’s job, Rebecca Otto has done nothing to earn respect. The office is now an average of six months late on many of their audits. That is unacceptable – and bordering on malfeasance – and is due to Rebecca Otto’s mismanagement.”
Anderson, who lost her previous race with Otto when Republicans were turned out of office in a Democratic tsunami spawned by dissatisfaction with the GOP at a national level, noted that she, Anderson, was endorsed by every major newspaper in the state except one.”
“Even those papers that regularly opined in opposition to my policies recognized that Rebecca Otto was not up to the job of State Auditor, said Anderson. “The editorial boards of the state’s newspapers got it right.”
Anderson contrasted her record and reputation as one of Minnesota’s most active and respected State Auditors, with the lack achievement of the current auditor, who Anderson says is simply another whining voice in the unproductive “no new taxes/tax the rich” debate.
“We need a State Auditor who will not only bring fiscal sanity to Minnesota, but who can help make the structural changes in government necessary for economic stability,” Anderson said. Anderson has been a strong voice for reforming the relationship between the stats and local governments, advocating for reducing state mandates on local communities and giving local communities more freedom to choose what services they will provide and how they will pay for those services.
“I’m ready to take on a State Auditor who has been so busy cheerleading for DFL constituencies that she’s ignored the vital functions of her job,” said Anderson. “She’s been so busy cheerleading for “taxing the rich” that she’s ignored and done nothing to protect the vast majority of Minnesota taxpayers. She’s been so busy complaining she gets no respect, she hasn’t done things to earn respect. I will bring respect back to the State Auditor’s office and make it work, again, for the people of Minnesota.”
