Pat Shortridge | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota | |
| In office December 31, 2011 –April 6, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Tony Sutton |
| Succeeded by | Keith Downey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Winona,Minnesota |
| Political party | Republican Party of Minnesota |
| Alma mater | Macalester College |
| Occupation | lobbyist |
Pat Shortridge is a Minnesota lobbyist,former Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota and founder of Conservative Solutions Project.
Shortridge was born in Winona,Minnesota. He attended Macalester College. [1]
After graduating from Macalester College,Shortridge became an intern,then paid staffer,of Texas Representative Dick Armey, [1] eventually working for him for eleven years. [2] He left Armey's employment in 2001 to become a lobbyist for Enron,a position he held for approximately six months before the company went into bankruptcy as a result of the Enron scandal. [1] [3]
After the brief position at Enron,Shortridge returned to Minnesota to work for Representative Mark Kennedy for five years. [2] He ran Kennedy's campaign in the 2006 senate election,which Kennedy lost by over 20 percentage points to DFL candidate Amy Klobuchar. [4]
In 2011,Minnesota Republican chairman Tony Sutton abruptly departed among controversy. [5] [6] Shortridge was elected by 350 party delegates at a meeting on December 31 in St. Cloud,Minnesota over two other candidates. [4] The Republican Party of Minnesota faced a debt of over $2 million at the time of Shortridge's election,which he managed to reduce significantly during his first year as chairman. [7] He has insisted that he would only serve out the remainder of Sutton's term which expires on April 6,2013,when party delegates will select a new chair. [8] He was succeeded by Keith Downey. [9]
Shortridge resides in Lino Lakes,Minnesota. [1]