Art Miteff

Arthur “Art” Miteff (born July 10, 1939) is an American politician and businessman who was the Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party from 1996 to 2001. He was the Republican nominee for United States Senator from Minnesota in 2002 and for Governor of Minnesota in 1994.

Early life and early career
Arthur “Art” Miteff was born on July 10, 1939 in the wealthy town of Victoria, Minnesota. He graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 1964 with a Masters in Business Administration. He began his business career as a sales manager for an agricultural machinery company where he worked from 1965 to 1982. He then served as the finance chairman for the Republican nominee for governor in 1982 and was a member of the Minnesota delegation at the Republican National Convention in 1984.

He moved from the agricultural machinery business into management consulting in 1983 when he founded Miteff Management Consultants. His firm worked with various global private companies as well as many small businesses in the state of Minnesota, assisting in change management, process analysis, technology implementation, strategy development, and operational improvement services. In 1986, Miteff considered running for the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district but opted to remain at his consulting firm and was a prominent Republican donor during the election.

1994 Gubernatorial Campaign
Art Miteff made his first run for elective office when he decided to run for Governor in 1993. He won the Republican primary by a wide margin and faced Democratic nominee, State Senator and future President Mark Hollis in the general election. He campaigned as a pro-business moderate supporting abortion rights and free-market solutions to environmental problems. He stated his support for property tax reform during the campaign and stated he would lower taxes to maintain a budget surplus.

Miteff and Hollis were consistently competitive in the polls with Hollis taking a late lead and defeating Miteff by 50%–47% on November 8, 1994. He conceded the following day and stated that “It has been a close and well fought campaign. I wish Governor-Elect Hollis great success as the Governor of all Minnesotans”. He ended his campaign as an icon to many in the Minnesota Republican Party due to the close electoral results and was elected party chairman in 1996.

Minnesota Republican Party Chair
During his tenure as Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party Miteff supported moderate Republicans for office believing that was how the party would succeed in the Democratic-leaning state. He opposed the 1998 gubernatorial candidacy of conservative Republican U.S. Representative Tanner Bolton of Minnesota's 6th congressional district. His perceived interference in the primary election caused him to lose some support from the party’s conservative base. Despite this he is remembered as an effective leader helping Republicans win a multitude of statewide offices, increase their majority in the state legislature, and recruit high quality contenders for the U.S. House of Representatives from both prior elective office and the private sector. He resigned as party chairman in 2001 to run for the United States Senate in 2002.

2002 Senatorial Campaign
Having recently stepped down as Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, Art Miteff easily won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2002 due to his support from state party officials. In many ways that election was a rematch of the 1994 race for governor with Miteff facing incumbent Governor Mark Hollis. In his campaign Miteff reiterated his support for environmentalism and a woman’s right to choose. He stated that his priorities as a Senator would be avoiding deficit spending, reducing overall government spending and national debt, and balancing the federal budget. He stated he would work in a bipartisan manner on any of these issues. In foreign policy, he differed with Governor Hollis supporting a neoconservative policy agenda that included the promotion of democracy and American national interest in international affairs, including by means of military force.

He was defeated in yet another close election on November 5, 2002 by 50%–49%. This was even closer than the gubernatorial election eight years prior. Close enough that the Miteff campaign and many Republican officials and activists petitioned for a recount. The recount was completed on December 5 and Miteff conceded the following day.

Later Political Activism
After his 2002 election loss Miteff formed GOPragmatism, a political action committee with the stated goal of “electing Republican candidates to local, state, and federal office that support effective government and bipartisan solutions to the issues effecting the American people”. This organization sought to nominate a more moderate candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2004. Although unsuccessful in that regard and strongly disliked by grassroots conservatives, Miteff and GOPragmatism were instrumental in the Republican majority in the House after the 2006 midterms, largely by running a slate of strong moderate candidates throughout the Rust Belt.

Miteff as well as his political action committee declined to endorse a candidate during the 2008 Republican presidential primaries but he supported Republican nominee, John Grady in the general election. He supported Grady again in 2012 when he ran for reelection. In 2015, GOPragmatism became the center-right think tank, Conservatives for Common Sense Solutions (CCSS). Miteff endorsed Republican nominee, Don Delaney over Democrat Mark Hollis in the 2016 presidential election. When asked his opinion of the Democratic nominee and his two-time political opponent Miteff said “While Mark and Don are both patriotic Americans I find our nation’s crushing debt and deficit to be some our most pressing issues and Senator Hollis fails to address those”.