SD41 District Convention. Q and A with Ron Erhardt and Kevin Staunton.

I attended three different district conventions today, and SD41 has and interesting race for the house seat between Kevin Staunton and former Republican Ron Erhardt who in 2008 was ostracized by his party when he joined with 5 other Republicans to override Pawlenty’s veto of a statewide transportation bill.  He left the Republican party and ran unsuccessfully as an independent.  He is now running for the DFL endorsement against Kevin Staunton, but has said he will also run in the general election if he is not endorsed by the Dems.  It was clear that Kevin had much more support in the room.  Erhardt’s choice to run as independent will undoubtedly keep the seat in the Republican column.  So much for compromise and reaching across the aisle.