Anderson defeated State Treasurer Carol Johnson, the Democratic–Farmer–Labor nominee, and Independence Party nominee Dave Hutcheson in the 2002 State Auditor election. Incumbent Democrat Judi Dutcher had opted not to seek re-election, running unsuccessfully for Governor of Minnesota. Anderson was elected as Pat Anderson Awada, the name she held prior to the finalization of her divorce in 2004. During her term as Auditor, she earned a reputation of a "taxpayer watchdog." Anderson ran for re-election to a second term in 2006, and earned endorsements from every major state newspaper. She lost to Democratic State Representative Rebecca Otto in the general election, part of the Democratic wave election that year.
Commissioner of Employee Relations
In January 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty nominated her for a position is his cabinet as Commissioner of Employee Relations, her responsibilities included the merger of that agency into the Department of Finance.
From 2008-2009, Anderson served as President of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. She said that as President she hoped to expand the institute by adding personnel and partnering with nonprofits with similar goals. After Anderson left, the organization was later merged into the Center of the American Experiment, last filing tax returns in 2011.
2010 elections
On July 15, 2009, Anderson announced that she was running for Governor of Minnesota in the 2010 election. She touted herself as a "Libertarian-style Republican" who opposes corporate subsidies and represents the party's shifting priorities. However, on January 12, 2010, she announced that she was withdrawing from the governor's race and would again run for State Auditor. Anderson lost her election bid to incumbent Rebecca Otto by 25,483 votes.
RNC
On April 16, 2011, Anderson was elected national committeewoman for Minnesota to the Republican National Committee to serve out the remaining term of Evie Axdahl, who retired. She garnered 180 votes from delegates to the Republican Party of Minnesota's state central committee meeting in Bloomington. On May 19, 2012, Janet Biehoffer defeated Anderson 215-124 in her quest for a full term as a national committeewoman to the RNC. Anderson's campaign suffered as many of the state central committee members were upset by Anderson's lobbying for Racino.
Racino lobbyist
Shortly, after being elected to the Republican National Committee, Anderson became a lobbyist for Canterbury Park Racetrack, and beginning lobbying for Racino, which was against the Republican Party Platform, which opposed an expansion of gambling in Minnesota. Many Republicans criticized Anderson for failing to disclose her intention to become a lobbyist for a gambling enterprise while running for the RNC.
2018 elections
In 2018, Anderson ran for Minnesota House Representative in District 38B, in the north-east suburbs of the Twin Cities. The district was then represented by Representative Matt Dean, who left to mount a bid for Governor of Minnesota in the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Her bid was notable in that she had moved to the area late in her political career; Eagan, the city she was previously mayor of, was not within or adjacent to the district. In something of an upset, Anderson lost the House race to Ami Wazlawik by a 1 percent margin, a Democrat from White Bear Township. Wazlawik's win was part of a larger trend towards the Democratic Party in the Twin Cities suburbs during the 2018 Minnesota House of Representatives election.
