Judi Dutcher
| Judi Dutcher | |
|---|---|
| 16th Minnesota State Auditor | |
|
In office January, 1995 – January, 2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Mark Dayton |
| Succeeded by | Patricia Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 27, 1962 Michigan |
| Political party |
Republican Party (until 2000) Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (after 2000) |
| Profession | Attorney, philanthropist |
Judith H. Dutcher is an attorney and former politician who served as the Minnesota State Auditor from 1995 – 2003 as both a Republican and Democrat (DFL). She was the first woman to serve as Minnesota State Auditor.
Judi Dutcher was born in Michigan in 1962. Her father, Jim Dutcher, was the head basketball coach of the University of Minnesota from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. She received a B.A. in Political Science and in English Literature from the University of Minnesota in 1984, and her Law Degree from the Law School in 1987.
After practicing as a prosecutor in the Twin Cities for several years, and serving as a referee in Hennepin County Conciliation Court, then-Governor Arne Carlson, approached her about running for state auditor as a member of the then Independent Republican Party in 1994 (the state Republican party was known as the Independent Republican Party from November 1975 to September 1995). Dutcher had previously not been a member of either party.
However, she accepted, and ran in the Arne Carlson mold of a centrist Republican; liberal on social issues, and conservative on fiscal issues. She won the Republican Party nomination for Auditor, and in November 1994, became the first pregnant woman ever elected to statewide office in the United States.
Dutcher gained recognition for her office's special investigations into malfeasance and was reelected in 1998, receiving more votes than any other candidate for constitutional office in Minnesota that year. In January 2000, she announced that she was switching to the DFL party, saying that she felt uncomfortable as a pro-choice on abortion, pro-gay rights woman in the Republican Party. She was given a speaking slot at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, and supported Vice President Al Gore and Senator Joe Lieberman.
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