What makes them run: Anderson says quick-fix era is over; time to shrink government

[This interview originally appeared in the July 31 issue of PIM Weekly Report.]

On Thursday PIM got a chance to talk with former state auditor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat Anderson about her run for the corner office at the Capitol.

Pat Anderson/vitals

Born: 1966; Education: B.A., University of Minnesota; M.A., Hamline University (public administration); Occupation: Entrepreneur, president of Minnesota Free Market Institute; Electoral history: Eagan City Council, 1991-98; Mayor of Eagan, 1999-2002; state auditor, 2003-2007; campaign website.

PIM: Why are you running for governor?

Pat Anderson: It’s been pretty clear that we’ve had gridlock up at the Capitol for years. It’s been kind of a debate between no new taxes versus more taxes and expansion of government. I think members of both parties are so focused on the political battle that neither party is making proposals addressing reform. So we need to move beyond that debate and talk about what government should and shouldn’t do and who should be doing it.

I think Minnesota needs a leader who gets this, who can articulate it, who can lead us toward change.

PIM: What are the two or three most important challenges facing Minnesota right now, and what would you do to solve them?

Anderson: The next governor is going to be faced with a $6-$7 billion structural deficit. It’s a problem we can no longer solve through temporary accounting shifts and unallotments. So it gives us the opportunity to finally force badly needed reform. I think we need to overhaul our current tax system and create one that encourages job growth and transparency and a broader, flatter system. There’s a lot of good things in the 21st Century Task Force report that came out in the spring, and we should look at implementing some of those things.

I also think we need to get off the global warming bandwagon, and we need to set policy and face some facts with the goal to secure a clean, affordable energy future. Probably all the candidates are talking about the need to finally overhaul the K-12 education system. I believe in bringing some competition to education, and that the money should follow the student rather than go to fund the system.

PIM: How many campaign events have you attended so far?

Anderson: I’ve been in the race for about six weeks, and it’s been at least 10 a week [laughs]. So I’d say at least 60. There are events–at least one or two actual campaign events every single day.

PIM: What are the main messages you’re hearing from Minnesotans as you campaign around the state?

Anderson: It’s about jobs and freedom and reform. We have to have policy to focus on growing jobs in Minnesota, and that doesn’t mean growing government jobs. I don’t believe that government creates jobs, but it certainly can kill them. What it means is we need to create an environment conducive to job growth here in Minnesota. We have to recognize that we’re competing globally.

I think people are also very worried about the huge growth of government in their lives. We have a law for every perceived problem. We dictate to our schools what must be taught and how things are funded. We’ve eliminated people’s freedom. We’re moving away from the values that made our country so great.

PIM: If you don’t receive your party’s endorsement, will you run in the primary?

Anderson: No.

PIM: Who, or what, would you say are the most important influences on your life and outlook?

Anderson: My parents. I come from a very interesting, active family. Both my parents are very independent and hard-working. I’m the oldest of five kids. We were latchkey kids, and I had sort of the responsibility for the others.

My family lived for the outdoors, and we were really pushed to be independent, responsible risk-takers. We learned how to shoot and fish and carry a canoe at real young ages. There wasn’t any whining allowed in our family.

My father was also a really avid political debater, and we’d talk about economics and politics all the time. It all boiled down to logic. My dad is a lifelong member of the Libertarian Party.

PIM: What’s the first thing you can remember wanting to be when you grew up?

Anderson: I thought about this question [laughs]. Probably a dogsled musher. It’s kind of an odd answer. But my parents had a few Malamutes when we were young, and used to raise them. But after a few winter camping trips in the Boundary Waters, I quickly dropped that idea.

My younger brother did follow that career path, though. He’s a full-blown professional dogmusher living in Fairbanks, Alaska, with his family and about 100 sled dogs.

But I prefer to camp in the summer, not the winter…