Marty Seifert, a former Republican House leader who ran for governor twice, will join Flaherty & Hood as a lobbyist, the firm said on Friday.

The St. Paul law and legislative advocacy firm represents Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Greater Minnesota Partnership and U.S. Highway 14 Partnership, among others, which makes it a natural fit, Seifert said.

"I want to believe in what I'm doing," he said.

Seifert, who lives in Marshall, represented his hometown in the Minnesota House from 1997 to 2010, rising to be the Republican minority leader. In 2010, he ran for governor and fell to Tom Emmer, now an incoming U.S. House member, in an endorsement fight.

This year, he ran for governor again. He vied in a primary in August, winning the significant support in outstate Minnesota, but came in at third place statewide.

Along the way, he formed relationships with many lawmakers. Seifert's first campaign was managed by Incoming House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, and Seifert said he knows, and even first recruited, many of the incoming Republican freshmen.

"Obviously, the speaker is a friend of mine, the committee chairs are friends and a lot of Democrats are friends," Seifert said.

Seifert will have company in making the switch to lobbying. Former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe and former Senate Minority Leader Dick Day are both now registered lobbyists — as are an assortment of former Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Rachel Stassen-Berger

Gains for Minnesota Democrats

Amid the big debates last week to keep the federal government running, three Minnesota Democrats were relishing smaller victories in the final hours of the 113th Congress.

Rep. Betty McCollum got her Global Food Security Act passed late Wednesday. Rep. Keith Ellison got the Federal Housing Finance Agency to agree to $700 million a year to create affordable rental-housing units.

And Rep. Tim Walz was hoping the Senate would pass his veterans suicide prevention bill and send it to the president's desk.

McCollum's bipartisan Global Food Security Act, introduced by Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, directs the president to develop a strategy to improve nutrition and strengthen agricultural development with an eye on international aid. Minnesota's biggest food companies, including Cargill and General Mills, were supporters.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency committed to more than $700 million more to construct affordable rental housing.

Ellison's office had been pushing the federal agency to shift resources after learning there was at least an 8 million unit shortage across the country.

Walz was working across the chamber Thursday to get the Senate to pass his Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, named after a Marine who committed suicide after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The House has passed the measure.

ALLISON SHERRY