For months, Minnesota's candidates for governor have been eating too much pastry and drinking too much burned coffee as they trek from Woodbury to Willmar and Marshall to Mankato.
They've marched in parades and listened to questions, rants and combinations of both. They've told the same jokes and stories to polite laughter and explained their views on health care, taxes and guns to crowds both large and — just as frequently — very small.
In that time, a dozen serious contenders were whittled down to half that. Now, the most dedicated political activists from both parties are gathering next weekend for state political conventions where they'll endorse their candidates for the state's top political job.
"It's been a long campaign. Test one is coming up," said Jeff Johnson, the Hennepin County commissioner who was GOP nominee for governor in 2014 and is seen as a favorite for the GOP endorsement as he tries again this year.
The endorsements for governor are the marquee events at the Republican convention in Duluth and the DFL convention in Rochester. But the party gatherings also kick off a five-month sprint to November in Minnesota's most momentous election year in decades: In addition to governor, the two parties are competing for two U.S. Senate seats; eight U.S. House seats, at least four of which could be national priorities for both parties; state attorney general and two other statewide offices; and control of the entire Legislature.
In the case of Republicans, the roughly 2,200 delegates expected won't decide the party nominee. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty will skip the convention and take his campaign straight to the GOP primary on Aug. 14, meaning he'll compete with an endorsed candidate bearing the party imprimatur and organizing resources that come with it.
Greg Bartz, chairman of the Brown County Republicans, said Pawlenty erred in forgoing the convention.
"He needs support in the trenches to do the tough political work," said Bartz, a veterinarian who is supporting Johnson instead. "He has more experience and a good handle on the issues that are important to us, especially in Greater Minnesota, which sometimes gets ignored."