T minus six days and counting

SD 49 conventions on March 24th

"s/v Field Trip"

Next Saturday, both the Republican and the DFL parties will hold their conventions for the new Senate and House districts encompassing Edina and parts of Bloomington, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie.

Three Republican hold the seats in the old SD41, which makes up most of the new district: Sen. Geoff Michel, the "Deputy," Rep. Pat Mazorol, 41B, and Rep. Keith Downey, 41A. Only Downey is running for re-election; Michel and Mazorol have thrown in the towel.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, which spent a boat load of money in negative advertising against Paul Rosenthal to help Mazorol (a freshman) unseat him, must be kicking itself for the poor investment.

But the best part is that as of this writing, no one has declared a candidacy for endorsement in the MNGOP for either the Senate or House District 49B.

There was a rumor that Michael Brodkorb's acolyte Luke Hellier was going to give the Senate slot a go -- somebody reserved hellierforsenate.com; that could be Angela Berger, of course -- but no announcement so far.

I'd also heard that Lee McGrath is or was thinking about the Senate, too. "That would be spooky fun," a friend observed. Indeed.