Raymond Park Chase (March 12, 1880 – September 18, 1948) was an American politician who served as a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and a

Minnesota State Auditor The state auditor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Nineteen individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Julie Blaha, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor ...

Life and career

Chase was born in

Anoka County, Minnesota Anoka County ( ) is the List of counties in Minnesota, fourth-most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 363,887. The county seat and namesak ...

on March 12, 1880. He attended the public schools and graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1903. Chase attended the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

in 1904, 1905, 1915, and 1916, but did not graduate. He engaged in the publishing and printing business at Anoka, Minnesota from 1904 to 1914. Chase served as municipal judge of Anoka, Minnesota from 1911 to 1916, and as deputy State auditor and land commissioner of Minnesota from 1916 through 1920. Chase returned to law school at

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private law school from 1956 to 2015 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J. ...

(then the St. Paul College of Law) and finally graduated in 1919; was admitted to the bar the same year but did not practice. He was elected state auditor as a Republican in 1920, and served through 1931. He stood unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

in 1930. Chase was elected as a Republican to the

73rd congress The 73rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1933, ...

(March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935) during a period when the state elected all Representatives

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

. He unsuccessfully sought renomination in 1934 when the seats were again broken into districts. After serving in Congress, Chase practiced law, specializing in legal research from 1935 through 1943. From 1944 through 1948 he served as a member of the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commission. During the 1938 gubernatorial race, Chase authored a book "Are They Communists or Catspaws: A Red Baiting Article", trying to prove a link between the incumbent Farmer-Labor Party administration and the Communist Party, however the book blatantly introduced

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

into Minnesota politics as all of his examples were addressing Jews.Patrick Coleman
A Dark Chapter in Minnesota's Political History
Minnesota Historical Society, January 2009. The book helped his side win the election, but it also prompted the organization, Jewish Community Relations Council, to combat local anti-Semitism. Chase died in

Anoka, Minnesota Anoka ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 17,142 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Anoka is the "Halloween Capital of the World" because it hosted one of the first Hal ...

, on September 18, 1948. He is interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Anoka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Ray P. Minnesota state auditors 1880 births 1948 deaths People from Anoka County, Minnesota University of Minnesota Law School alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni Minnesota lawyers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives