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Revision as of 07:12, 10 March 2014 by Mrfeek (talk | contribs) (→Minnesota House of Representatives)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Pat Garofalo | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 58B district 36B (2005–2013) | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 4, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Strachan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 53–54) Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Political party | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Spouse | Julie |
| Children | Alex and Abby |
| Residence | Farmington, Minnesota |
| Alma mater | Mankato State University (B.S.) |
| Occupation | network engineer, legislator. |
Patrick Lee "Pat" Garofalo is a Minnesota 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
Garofalo graduated from Rosemount High School in Rosemount in 1989, then went on to Mankato State University in Mankato, earning his B.S. in law enforcement in 1994.
Minnesota House of Representatives
Garofalo was first elected in 2004 and has been re-elected every two years since then. He served as Chairman of the Education Finance Committee from 2011 to 2012. Garofalo was the chief author of the alternative teacher licensure bill, signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton on March 7, 2011. Garofalo also chief authored early education scholarships, vouchers for low income families in K-12 schools, and "Walker-like" collective bargaining reforms. Most recently, he has been a vocal critic of Democratic Party proposals regarding solar power, trade unions, and granting instate tuition to undocumented aliens.
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.
Racism Controversy
On March 9, 2014, Garofalo tweeted, "Let's be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime " The tweet immediately drew criticism for its apparent racism and linkage of the predominantly African American National Basketball Association to stereotypes about crime.
Garofalo defended the tweet, saying he had only been "talking about the NBA's high arrest rate." Critics noted that the arrest rate of NBA players is not significantly different than that of the general population. Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin went further, calling Garofalo's tweet "incredibly racist."
References
- ^ "Garofalo, Patrick "Pat"". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- Pat Garofalo, Twitter
- State Rep. Pat Garofalo's tweet about NBA draws angry responses alleging racism
- Minnesota State House of Representatives Member Tweets Something Racist About Basketball; Doesn’t Claim He Was Hacked
- Ken Martin, Twitter
External links
- Pat Garofalo at Minnesota Legislators Past & Present
- Rep. Pat Garofalo official Minnesota House of Representatives website
- Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Pat Garofalo
- Project Votesmart - Rep. Pat Garofalo Profile
- Rep. Pat Garofalo official campaign website