Pat Garofalo
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 58B district
36B (2005–2013)
Assumed office
January 4, 2005
Preceded bySteve Strachan
Personal details
Born (1971-09-23) September 23, 1971[1]
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Political partyRepublican Party of Minnesota
SpouseJulie
ChildrenTwo
ResidenceFarmington, Minnesota
Alma materMinnesota State University, Mankato (B.S.)
Occupationnetwork engineer, legislator

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

  1. 1 2 "Garofalo, Patrick "Pat" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present".
  2. 1 2 "Garofalo, Patrick "Pat"". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Lee, Jolie (March 10, 2014). "Minn. lawmaker responds to tweet about NBA, street crime". USA Today. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  4. ↑ Stassen-Berger, Rachel E. (March 10, 2014). "Farmington legislator's tweet on NBA called racist". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  5. ↑ Brooks, Jennifer (March 11, 2014). "Rep. Garofalo apologizes for tweet on NBA that many called racist". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Tad. "Not a 2016 candidate, Kline focused on work ahead". hometownsource.com. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  7. ↑ Siders, David (January 13, 2021). "Capitol riot fueled by deep network of GOP statehouse support". Politico. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
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