Vice President Joe Biden made a stop in Minnesota Tuesday to stump for DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton and to assure about 1,000 students, politicians and teachers that Democrats are not going to be swept out of Minnesota or Washington after the general election.

In May 2008, Republican activists in House District 41A voted not to endorse nine-term moderate Republican incumbent Ron Erhardt. They were frustrated, in part, by Erhardt's vote to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a transportation bill that increased the state's gas tax. Instead Republicans in the Edina district threw their support to political neophyte Keith Downey.

Two former GOP representatives who took political knocks from their party after they voted with DFLers in 2008 to override GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a transportation bill are finding a more hospitable crowd at today's Independence Party Convention.

State Sen. Steve Murphy’s official line for retiring is to find more family time, but he sounds as if he might just be sick and tired of lawmaking. Words like “nonsense” and “turmoil” come out when Murphy speaks of the political process at the Capitol these days, and Murphy pines for the days when bipartisanship, in his view, was more common, such as when he came to St. Paul in 1993.

The month of March witnessed several interesting endorsing conventions for state legislative seats. In many instances, the conventions sorted out who will carry their party’s banner in November. In other cases, the endorsed candidates are being challenged in a primary. Here’s a rundown of what occurred at some of the notable conventions from the month past.

Former GOP state Rep. Ron Erhardt is considering a couple possible paths for his political future including a DFL primary challenge.

Former GOP state Rep. Ron Erhardt of Edina is exploring a run for his old House seat as a Democrat.

After losing a net two seats in Tuesday’s state House races, House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, is undecided about whether to seek another term ...

Rep. Neil Peterson, R-Bloomington, started the legislative session on Feb. 12 as the House assistant minority whip. But that changed the day after Peterson voted ...

While campaigning for her seat in 2004, Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, listened to several former Minnesota Finance commissioners complain about the state budget’s volatile ...