An Austin-born man made big headway in state politics over the weekend.

Bruce Anderson, whose parents are still locals, was named the state Party Director of the Minnesota Independence Party during its annual convention Saturday.

“It was exciting,” Anderson said. “It’s not a role that you take lightly and just decide that you’re going to do it within a week.”

Anderson, who proudly states he voted for Ross Perot in the 1992 election, has been registered with the Independence Party since 2002 while he worked at a field office for Tim Penny, who was running for governor at the time.

Anderson hopes to incrementally build the Independence Party’s messaging, marketing and money during his tenure, although one of the challenges he sees is to raise the party’s brand on its own, not just the exposure the party gets from candidates like Jesse Ventura and Penny.

“Our party has largely been candidate driven, and we’ve been fortunate to have strong candidates,” Anderson said.