Twenty-eight years later, Pat Mazoral earns his way in

The call came into suburban New Orleans Nov. 2 with the news that Pat Mazoral had waited nearly three decades to share with his parents.

The newly elected State Representative from House District 41B Mazoral delivered the news to his parents in their Manderville, La. residence with a phone call to his mother, who then relayed the message to his father, Earl, who himself was too weak to take the call.

Earl nodded in acknowledgement, Mazoral said, one of his final acts before succumbing to the cancer two short days later.

The emotions, as you would expect, were mixed for Mazoral. But knowing his father was alive long enough to hear the news of his success was of some comfort.

"In the weeks leading up to his diagnosis of cancer, he was very supportive and always wanted to talk about how the campaign was going," Mazoral said last week from his new office inside the State Office Building adjacent to the Minnesota State Capitol.

"Throughout my life, he was very supportive of what I as doing, so it was nice he was able to hear the news."

No question he had waited long enough to find out. Mazoral, a Republican, originally ran for a State Senate position in 1982, losing to current Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman in that race.

In the 28 years since then, Mazoral had focused his work on a career that began in law and transitioned into the financial services industry until this past July. He accepted a spot as senior vice president for university relations at Bethel University in St. Paul.

A father of two grown daughters, Mazoral decided to get back into politics with the direct charge of making sure his children aren't writing checks to cover up the mistakes currently being made in government.

So with the blessing of both his kids, as well as his wife, Barbara, Mazoral dived back into the political spotlight this past year, campaigning throughout the summer and eventually claiming victory over DFL incumbent Paul Rosenthal.

"The thing that really got me to run again was to see that we weren't leaving what I saw as a big bill for our children," Mazoral said. "That is where having children I think really changes perspective a bit. You have a couple of people that you have raised and love, and it just didn't seem moral what we were doing."

In the next two years, he'll have his opportunity to do something about it. For the first time in decades, the Republican Party has a majority in both the House and Senate.

The immediate task at hand for all involved is to find a way to meet the constitutional mandate of erasing a record deficit in the state's budget. But first, he had to determine how to get to where that difficult decision would be made.

Mazoral holds an undergrad in physics from the University of Minnesota, and he received his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

This past summer he returned to college campus by taking the job at Bethel, and now he's a 61-year-old freshman in the Minnesota's House of Representatives.

The official first days on the job won't come until after he is sworn in Jan. 4, but orientation is under way, and it's come with the typical challenges presented to freshmen of any age.

First off was finding his office on the fifth floor of the State Office Building, which a short time later, was followed by trying to locate where a training class would be held.

"It's kind of jaw-dropping," said Mazoral. "You earn your way in here, and you earn your way out. My hope is I do enough to earn the right to stay on."

The Leadership of the House is certainly putting him in a position to succeed. Committee designations were finalized last week, and Mazoral landed on four separate committees that will each utilize his 30-plus years of experience in the business world.

Mazoral was named to the Civil Law Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee and the Higher Education Committee.

It was if the Leadership of the House went right down his resume with a pen, and went check, check, check ... and check again.

"All the committee assignments reflect my career," Mazoral said. "I was asked what my preferences would be, but certainly there were no guarantees. I suspect that part of those selections were because I am an older legislator, and I have had careers in those areas. It's not like I'm reaching out for something I might have an interest in, which is exciting, because I believe I'll be able to have some valuable insight with what I will be working on."

That would be, in essence, helping to take care of his own backyard. He was born in Louisiana and moved to Pittsburgh when he was five. Two years later, the family moved to Bloomington, and other than a few stops for college, he's never left.

He was a member of Bloomington Kennedy's second graduating class, and both of his daughters graduated from Bloomington Jefferson.

"My heart is and always has been in Bloomington," Mazoral said.

When he was a kid, it was just a mile walk to old Metropolitan Stadium. Building a new stadium is expected to be considered in the 2011 session.

Mazoral admitted when it comes to a new Vikings home, he's prepared to listen - something he said he will be doing a lot of in the early days of his first term.

"My ears will be open," he said. "There is a lot to soak in. This whole thing, even walking in here today, the reaction is 'wow.' It's an honor to be able to be a part of something like this, but now that I'm here, I have a responsibility to my district, and really, to the entire state of Minnesota. My intention is to stay true to why I told people to elect me for this office, and that is what I intend to do."

1 2 Next