Patricia Anderson

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	(1966-06-04) June 4, 1966 (age 50) 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.

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.

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, 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.

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