Reprinted from

October 18, 2006

Otto bags Arne's endorsement

The DFL candidate for Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto picked up a significant endorsement today from former two-term Republican Governor Arne Carlson.

Carlson's support is meaningful not only because he crossed party lines in opposing the candidacy of Republican incumbent Patricia Anderson, but because Carlson himself was State Auditor before getting elected Governor. Furthermore, according to the press release issued today by the Otto campaign, a primary factor in Carlson's decision was the overt politicization of the Auditor's office under Republican control. Otto cited two examples. One was Anderson's report recommending deep cuts in local government aid one month after taking office in early 2003, a sentiment in synch with then-newly elected Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty's call to balance the multi-billion dollar state budget deficit without raising taxes. The result was huge local property tax hikes coupled with cuts to services.

The second example of partisanship claimed by Otto involves Anderson's ongoing employment of the Secretary-Treasurer of the Republican Party, Tony Sutton, as the Deputy State Auditor in her office. (Both organizations are housed in the same building.) "I think that independence has been lost," Carlson says in the Otto release about the auditor's position under Anderson. "Rebecca Otto is a very very good person, and I think she's exactly the kind of person we need in that job."