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Alan Mackenthun

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Alan Mackenthun
Image of Alan Mackenthun

Republican Party

Education

Bachelor's

University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering, 1993

Graduate

University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering, 1995

Military

Years of service

1985 - 1990

Personal
Birthplace
Waconia, Minn.
Religion
Christian: Lutheran
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Alan Mackenthun (Republican Party) ran for election to the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 20A. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 11, 2020.

Mackenthun completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Alan Mackenthun was born in Waconia, Minnesota. He served in the United States Air Force from 1985 to 1990. Mackenthun earned a bachelor's degree in 1993 and a master's degree in 1995, both from the University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering (formerly Institute of Technology). His career experience includes working as a civil/environmental engineer, software developer, tech company founder, and real estate company owner.[1]

Elections

2020

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A

Brian Pfarr defeated Erina Prom in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Brian Pfarr
Brian Pfarr (R)
 
68.6
 
16,922
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Erina Prom (D)
 
31.3
 
7,705
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
23

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 24,650
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Erina Prom advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Brian Pfarr advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Alan Mackenthun completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mackenthun's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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I grew up in Norwood, MN with 5 brothers and sisters. I served 4 years in the Air Force before earning a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the U of MN while also serving in the Army National Guard. I've worked as a Civil Engineer, software developer, consutant, technical architect, project manager and Vice President of Product Management consulting with medium and large companies and government agencies around the world. I started a real estate business in 2008 and have since left the travel and consulting behind. At 52 I have the flexibility to spend my time as I see fit and I would be honored to serve and represent you in the state legislature.

I've been married 30 years to a wonderful woman who's a Director with Oracle. We've raised two adult sons who are both software developers and we're excitedly anticipating weddings for each this summer and next.

I believe that our constitutional republic is worth defending and would like to take our conservative republican principles to the state capital to argue for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • The primary purpose of government is the protection of individual rights including the right to life, free speech, the free exercise of religion and the right to keep and bear arms.

  • MN DOT and the Met Council are too focused on mass transit and dont' invest nearly enough to maintain roads and ease congestion. We need to make sure the significant money we spend on transportation is directed to safety and congestion relief to get the most benefit at the least cost.

  • Our schools are better than most, but as a state and in the nation, we're failing students. Only 49% of Minnesota students are proficient in Math, only 56% of 3rd graders are proficient in reading, and almost 1 in 5 students fails to graduate high school. We must do better.
I want to defend the principles that our country was founded upon. These principles include that all are created equal. That each of us has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Without a right to life, nothing else matters. Limiting government is the best protection for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom is increased when people can keep more of the money they earn.

At the same time, government has certain responsibilities and is necessary for us all to get along in peace. Where necessary, it must be held accountable and managed to avoid the corruption and incompetence so often inherent in government programs. The DHS has given us multiple high profile examples of this recently. As a civil and environmental engineer by training, I've always been drawn to transportation, energy, and water issues. We need to make sure the significant amount of money that we spend on transportation is directed at solving congestion and safety issues as efficiently as possible. We need to make sure we have clean drinking water and a healthy environment. There isn't anything we can do at the state level to make any impact on climate change and should focus on addressing environmental issues that we can impact. Reliable affordable energy is critical to our economic health and growth. Energy mandates increase costs hurting the poor and working class much more than others.
Maturity and independence are needed to withstand the pressures of lobbyists and leadership. Legislation often includes both good and bad and decisions aren't always easy. A person needs to be anchored by their principles, argue on behalf of those principles and then make the best call they can. In my view, government's primary purpose is the protection of individual rights. I think people are better equipped to make decisions for themselves and their families and how they spend their time than government. Limiting the size and scope of government allows individuals to have the greatest freedom.
I'm independent and level headed. I learn new things quickly and do not shy away from doing so. My principles and philosophy of government are well developed and I won't lose sight of these principles. I get along with people well and don't take offense easily. I don't have time to hold grudges. I understand no one is perfect and that I'm never going to agree with anyone 100% of the time, but will work with anyone on topics where we do have similar interests. Most importantly, I don't want anything from government or lobbyists. I've been blest beyond my most optimistic dreams. I'd like to be given the trust of this office simply so I can defend the principles on which our country was founded.
All year a legislator should be available to meet constituents and listen to them so that you can represent them in the state house. During session they must do the work by attending committee meetings, reading and writing bills and attending house floor sessions. Legislators should research the legislation and principles surrounding them so they can argue for their principles and justify their votes. The most important work is actually done between official meetings and floor sessions when working with other legislators and staff to craft legislation and get buy in from other legislators. Very seldom does a legislator change their vote on the house floor due to arguments for or against a bill.
I remember mom telling us about the US evacuation from Vietnam when I was about 8.
Working for my Dad in his butcher shop. I started at 11 and continued through high school.
It was a terrible 80's pop song. Please, please, please don't remind me.
My parents were (and are) great, but they never had a lot of money. They did their best to send their 6 children through Lutheran grade schools and high school, but they couldn't offer any support for college. After serving in the Air Force and returning married, we both had to work our way through college. In fact, while working our way through college, we both sent money to our parents as we were able. Second, as can be seen from my professional career answering the eternal question of what I want to do when I grow up hasn't been easy. Finally, dealing with clients and tenants never fails to raise new challenges. Fortunately, I was able to make the vast majority of my clients happy and in 12 years of managing 12 doors I've never needed to do an eviction.
Each house member is elected or reelected every 2 years. Senators serve for 6 year terms though redistricting shortens some terms every 10 years. Senators also represent twice as many people as representatives. The difference isn't that significant, but it is important to our republican form of government to ensure that both legislative bodies, as well as the governor agree before legislation is passed. It's not as easy or efficient as unicameral government, but it's not supposed to be easy.
In Minnesota we have citizen legislators. It is important that legislators have significant experience and competence, but not necessarily in government.

While I haven't held an elected position in government, I have served as president of my church which has two worship locations and two elementary schools. I have also been president of a townhome association where I have invested. Finally, I have consulted with local, county, state and federal government agencies implementing a variety of software solutions and understand the challenges they face. I also worked with a start up technology company that created a sales tax calculation and collection package that was certified by 24 states. I was a founder of the company and primarily responsible for development of the solution, the requirements, testing, and the certification process. In this role I worked with all of the 24 states and demonstrated our solution to them as well as to Congressmen and Senators in DC. I learned in detail the intricacies of sales tax rates and product definitions and the complications of compliance with 50 state departments of revenue. I have also learned the challenges of deploying technology solutions in government agencies. There is great opportunity to make improvements, but change is hard. I hope the state driver's and vehicle licensing system is back on track now, but I'd have liked to have the chance to avoid the millions of dollars and thousands of hours wasted on the first iteration by ensuring requirements were much more well defined, tested and rolled out.
Absolutely. Legislation, like much of life, is messy. In order to get a majority of 134 representatives, 67 senators and the governor to approve legislation you have to be able to relate to them and talk to them where they're at. There has to be a level of trust, confidence, and respect for them to sign off on the things that are important to you. Unfortunately, logic and principles don't always win the day.
Taxes, Education Policy, Government Operations, and the Ways and Means Committee including Transportation Finance and Policy Division, Water Division, Energy Finance and Policy Division, and Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division.
Yes, down the road if I can be of service.
I never say never, but I don't see it happening in the foreseeable future.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 24, 2020


Current members of the Minnesota House of Representatives
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Speaker of the House:Lisa Demuth
Majority Leader:Harry Niska
Minority Leader:Zack Stephenson
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Jay Xiong (D)
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