Rebecca Otto
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| Rebecca Otto | |
| Image:RebeccaOtto.jpg | |
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| January, 2007 – Incumbent | |
| Predecessor: | Patricia Anderson |
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| Successor: | Incumbent |
| Born: | July 9, 1963 |
| Political party: | Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party |
| Profession: | Jr. High School teacher |
Rebecca Otto (born July 9, 1963) is the Minnesota State Auditor-elect. She was the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party. She also served one term in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003-2004 and on the Forest Lake School Board. Before entering politics, she was a junior high school science teacher. She lives on a farm near Marine on St. Croix with her husband, Shawn Lawrence Otto, a filmmaker.
[edit] Political Career
She was initially defeated for the state house in 2002 by incumbent Mark Holsten. However, the seat opened after Holsten was appointed to the states Department of Natural Resources. Depite a heavily Republican tilt to the district, Otto defeated Matt Dean in the special election. [1]
Later in 2003, Otto and her husband were indicted by a grand jury of distributing false campaign material, a misdemeanor. Otto replied that the charges, filed by House Speaker Steve Sviggum were politically motivated and baseless.[2] Otto was supported by a number of individuals, including former Republican Governor Arne Carlson, who signed a letter criticizing the indictment. In December 2003, the charges were dismissed by a local judge and part of the law was stricken as unconstitutional.
The charges, however, impacted Otto's campaign and she lost her re-election bid in 2004.
Otto declared her candidacy for auditor in March 2005 and ran against the incumbent auditor, Patricia Anderson. She won the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement in 2006. Carlson, who crossed party lines to support her during her legal ordeals, switched his support from Anderson to Otto in the 2006 election. Otto defeated Anderson in the general election.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Mark Holsten | Minnesota State Representative - 52B District 2003 – 2004 | Succeeded by: Matt Dean |
| State Auditors of Minnesota
<td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of Minnesota.svg </td> |
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| Dunbar • McIlrath • Whitcomb • Braden • Biermann • Dunn • Iverson • Preus • Chase • King • O'Brien • Hatfield • Mattson • Carlson • Dayton • Dutcher • Anderson • Otto |
