Joan Ruth Anderson Growe is an American politician who served as Secretary of State of Minnesota from 1975 to 1999. Her tenure of 24 years was the second-longest in Minnesota history for that office. Growe was known for her work to encourage voter participation during her time as Secretary of State. In 1984, she ran for the US Senate as a candidate against Republican incumbent Rudy Boschwitz, receiving 41% of the vote in that election.