Pat Garofalo


Patrick Garofalo 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, 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. He has been chairman of the Jobs, Energy and Housing Committee since 2015. He previously served one term as chairman of the Education Finance Committee in 2011-12. Garofalo has been an advocate for lower taxes, has opposed government incentives to fund broadband in rural areas and has a voting record with some libertarian tendencies.

2016 Election Results

2014 Election Results

2012 Election Results

2010 Election Results

2008 Election Results

2006 Election Results

2004 Election Results

Political History

After first being elected in 2004, Garofalo was challenged for the Republican Party endorsement in 2006. He eventually won endorsement after a long and divided convention.
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain hosted a campaign town hall at Lakeville South High School in October 2008. McCain selected Garofalo, an early McCain supporter, to be a featured speaker at the event.
In 2010, Garofalo became a lightning rod for controversy when he publicly attacked the leadership of Education Minnesota, Minnesota's Teacher's Union. In 2011, he returned to the Minnesota legislature with a new Republican majority and was selected as Chairman of the Education Finance Committee.
In 2014, after Garofalo told activists that he would not run for reelection, local Republicans convinced him to change his mind.
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 returned to Minnesota and told local media, "I would rather stick a fork in my eye than run for Congress".

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 Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's first campaign in 2002.