Minnesota's hard-earned reputation for well-managed government is a strategic state asset. Maintaining it requires vigilance. The Office of State Auditor, which serves as a necessary check — a watchdog — over the finances of local government, plays a key role in maintaining this reputation.

Rebecca Otto, Minnesota's two-term state auditor, has been a stalwart steward overlooking this vital function of state government. She deserves to serve a third term.

Otto's capable job ensuring that billions of taxpayer dollars are appropriately and prudently spent has been recognized nationally. She was elected president of the National State Auditors Association in 2013. In 2014 she was named one of the 15 most-influential professionals in government auditing in America.

In Minnesota, however, Otto has been lower-profile, at least before a surprising primary challenge from fellow DFLer Matt Entenza. Among the key issues identified by Entenza was Otto's vote last year against approving some nonferrous mining leases. Otto tells the Star Tribune Editorial Board that she is neutral on mining, but that as a member of Minnesota's Executive Council she voted "no" on the 31 leases in order to protect Minnesotans from financial exposure — a "damage deposit" issue, as she framed it.

Otto was within the purview of her office to vote in this manner — but she did show poor judgment when her campaign issued an e-mail about her vote that included a fundraising link.

That was a rare misstep by Otto, and a rare moment of politics seeping into what should be an apolitical office. Indeed, it is unwise to select this key constitutional office on a partisan basis.

Otto's third-term ambitions for her office include creating an "infrastructure stress report" that would identify and quantify infrastructure needs in communities. Having such actionable data would be a valuable tool for policymakers.

In an interview with the Editorial Board, Otto's Republican opponent, Randy Gilbert, also stressed the need to streamline available information from the state auditor's office, including improving a "cumbersome" website. Gilbert has admirable private and public-sector credentials. With a degree in accounting and extensive professional experience in the field, he is qualified for the job. And he's no stranger to the political process, having served as mayor of Long Lake.

Gilbert, too, has worthy ambitions for what the state auditor's office can accomplish: He wants to implement a "citizen data protection initiative" that would safeguard taxpayers' information and personal health data as well as other material from improper public or government access.

Pat Dean, the Independence Party candidate, also has an appropriate educational and professional background, but is more of a political novice. He told the Editorial Board that his main focus would be more accountability in the auditor's office.

In the end, the choice here is straightforward: Otto has done the job well, and deserves another term to build upon her accomplishments.