# C. Elmer Anderson *Governor of Minnesota (1951–1955) and long-serving Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota.* Clyde Elmer Anderson (March 16, 1912 – January 22, 1998) was a Republican who served as the 28th [[Governor of Minnesota]] from September 27, 1951, to January 5, 1955.[^1][^2] Before that he was the 30th and 33rd [[Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota]], holding the office from 1939 to 1943 and from 1945 to 1951.[^2] Anderson took office when [[Luther Youngdahl]] resigned.[^1] He won a full term in 1952 against [[Orville Freeman]].[^3] On November 2, 1954, Freeman defeated him by 68,234 votes, and the DFL took the executive office.[^4] He later served as mayor of Nisswa and of Brainerd.[^2] ## Life and career ### Early life Anderson was born in 1912 in Brainerd, [[Minnesota]]. His parents, Fred and Anna Anderson, had emigrated from Lappfors in Esse, Finland, and spoke Swedish. When he was 14 his father died, and he went to work for a magazine and newspaper firm to support the household. After Brainerd High School he enrolled at the [[University of Minnesota]] to study medicine. He left after two quarters when he could no longer pay tuition, and he went back to work in Brainerd.[^2] ### Lieutenant governor In the 1938 election Anderson was the lieutenant-governor candidate alongside the Republican candidate for governor, [[Harold Stassen]], and the ticket won. Stassen was 31 and Anderson 26, and no younger pair had held the two offices in the state's history. Voters returned Anderson to the lieutenant governorship five more times, under three governors. His combined years in that office are the most of anyone in Minnesota.[^2] ### Governor Youngdahl resigned in September 1951 to take a federal judgeship in Washington, D.C., and Anderson succeeded him on September 27, 1951.[^1][^2] In the 1952 election he ran as the incumbent and defeated Freeman.[^3] Freeman beat him two years later, on November 2, 1954, by 68,234 votes.[^4] Anderson's tenure ended on January 5, 1955.[^2] ### Later life Anderson was mayor of Nisswa from 1961 to 1963. He was mayor of Brainerd from 1976 to 1986. He died in Brainerd in 1998. The C. Elmer Anderson Memorial Highway bears his name.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Party: Republican. He succeeded Luther Youngdahl as governor on September 27, 1951.[^1] - Orville Freeman (DFL) lost to him in 1952 and defeated him in 1954.[^3][^4] ### When - 1938: elected lieutenant governor on the Stassen ticket.[^2] - 1951, September 27: becomes governor on Youngdahl's resignation.[^1] - 1952: wins election to a full term over Freeman.[^3] - 1954, November 2: loses to Freeman by 68,234 votes.[^4] - 1955, January 5: leaves the governor's office.[^2] ### Where - Brainerd: his birthplace, the city where he served as mayor (1976–1986), and the place he died. He was also mayor of Nisswa (1961–1963).[^2] ### How many - Lieutenant-governor elections won: six. These were 1938 and five reelections, under three governors.[^2] - Margin of his 1954 defeat: 68,234 votes.[^4] ### Name disambiguation The project's merged master names an "Anderson 1973" amendment to §201.091, a voter-list statute. The master links that amendment to two federal filings: the voter-rolls case 0:25-cv-03761 and the Title IX case 0:26-cv-02078. The master's own table identifies that Anderson as "W. Anderson DFL". That is [[Wendell R. Anderson]], who was elected governor in 1970 and resigned in December 1976.[^5][^6] C. Elmer Anderson left the governor's office in 1955.[^1][^2] The record compiled here documents no statute enacted or amended by C. Elmer Anderson among the instruments now in federal court. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Governor C. Elmer Anderson* — Anderson (R) became Governor on September 27, 1951, upon Luther Youngdahl's resignation. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/govbio?govid=11 [^2]: Wikipedia, *C. Elmer Anderson* (rev. 1373140178, retrieved 2026-10-25) — dates of birth and death; service as governor and lieutenant governor; early life; 1938 election; mayoralties; memorial highway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Elmer_Anderson [^3]: Wikipedia, *Orville Freeman* — Freeman lost the 1952 gubernatorial race to incumbent C. Elmer Anderson (R). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Freeman [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Governor Orville Freeman* — Freeman defeated C. Elmer Anderson by 68,234 votes on November 2, 1954; the DFL took the executive. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/govbio?govid=10 [^5]: U.S. Congress, *Biographical Directory: Anderson, Wendell (A000202)* — biography of Wendell R. Anderson, Governor of Minnesota and later U.S. Senator. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/A000202 [^6]: Wikipedia, *Wendell R. Anderson* — Wendell Anderson (DFL) was elected governor on November 3, 1970, and resigned on December 29, 1976. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_R._Anderson