American politician
Patrick "Pat" Garofalo (born September 23, 1971) is an American politician and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives . A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota , he represents District 58B, which includes portions of Dakota and Goodhue counties in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Education
Born in 1971 in Saint Paul, Minnesota,[1] Garofalo graduated from Rosemount High School in Rosemount in 1989, then went on to Minnesota State University, Mankato in Mankato , earning his B.S. in law enforcement in 1994.
Minnesota House of Representatives
Garofalo was first elected in 2004 and has been reelected every two years since. In February 2008, he was named assistant minority whip for the Republican caucus. Garofalo served one term as chair of the Education Finance Committee in 2011–12, and chaired the Job Growth & Energy Affordability Committee from 2015 to 2018. He is now the minority lead of the Ways and Means Committee.[2]
In March 2015, Garofalo posted on Twitter that if a majority of National Basketball Association teams were to fold, "nobody would notice a difference [with the] possible exception of increase in streetcrime [sic ]."[3] [4] He said he was making an observation about crime among professional athletes, not a racist comment.[3] He later apologized.[5]
In 2015, after U.S. Representative John Kline announced he was not running for reelection, attention turned to Garofalo as a possible contender for the seat. After a recruiting visit to Washington, D.C., with House leadership, Garofalo told local media, "I would rather stick a fork in my eye than run for Congress".[6]
In 2021, Garofalo called the U.S. Capitol attack by Donald Trump supporters "ridiculous" and "banana republic shit".[7]
Personal life
Garofalo and his family live in Farmington . He is a network engineer who works on computer infrastructure and IP telephony systems. He was the technology coordinator for Tim Pawlenty 's 2002 gubernatorial campaign .[2]
Electoral history
Minnesota House of Representatives,
House District 58B election, 2018
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
11,549
58.84
DFL
Marla Vagts
8,060
41.06
Write-in
20
0.10
Total votes
19,629
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives,
House District 58B election, 2016
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
13,926
64.78
DFL
Marla Vagts
7,542
35.08
Write-in
29
0.13
Total votes
21,497
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives,
House District 58B election, 2014
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
8,878
63.85
DFL
Marla Vagts
5,008
36.02
Write-in
18
0.13
Total votes
13,904
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives,
House District 58B election, 2012
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
12,520
59.47
DFL
Jim Arlt
8,512
40.04
Write-in
19
0.09
Total votes
21,051
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives, House District 36B election, 2010
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
12,317
65.81
DFL
Sigrid Iversen
6,381
34.10
Write-in
17
0.09
Total votes
18,715
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives, House District 36B election, 2008
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
14,235
56.01
DFL
Bev Topp
11,144
43.85
Write-in
36
0.14
Total votes
25,415
100
Republican hold
Minnesota House of Representatives, House District 36B election, 2006
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
10,304
55.85
DFL
Paul Hardt
8,123
44.03
Write-in
23
0.12
Total votes
18,450
100
Republican hold
Minnesota's House of Representatives, House District 36B election, 2004
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Patrick Garofalo
14,511
62.39
DFL
Benjamin Coler
8,718
37.48
Write-in
31
0.13
Total votes
23,260
100
Republican hold
References
^ a b "Garofalo, Patrick "Pat" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present" .
^ a b "Garofalo, Patrick "Pat" " . Legislators Past & Present . Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 27, 2013 .
^ a b Lee, Jolie (March 10, 2014). "Minn. lawmaker responds to tweet about NBA, street crime" . USA Today . Retrieved January 30, 2021 .
^ Stassen-Berger, Rachel E. (March 10, 2014). "Farmington legislator's tweet on NBA called racist" . Star Tribune . Retrieved January 30, 2021 .
^ Brooks, Jennifer (March 11, 2014). "Rep. Garofalo apologizes for tweet on NBA that many called racist" . Star Tribune . Retrieved January 30, 2021 .
^ Johnson, Tad. "Not a 2016 candidate, Kline focused on work ahead" . hometownsource.com . Retrieved 2019-01-07 .
^ Siders, David (January 13, 2021). "Capitol riot fueled by deep network of GOP statehouse support" . Politico . Retrieved January 29, 2021 .
External links
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