It’s election season in Minnesota.

While youth eye the end of the school year and grownups salivate (or stress) over upcoming vacations, thousands of political die-hards from the state’s two leading parties will descend on two cities Friday for state conventions.

The Republican Party of Minnesota will hold its state convention in Duluth on Friday and Saturday. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party will hold its state convention in Rochester Friday through Sunday.

Unity and infighting can be expected at both, a sign of the passionate, and at times messy, vibrancy of the democratic process.

Among the goals: Delegates to each convention will vote to endorse candidates for statewide offices that will appear on ballots in the Aug. 15 primary and Nov. 6 general election.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Those are some big offices — both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats and governorship top the list. But also the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor.

Endorsements for other offices appearing on the ballot this year — all eight U.S. House seats, all 134 state House seats and at least one state Senate seat — are taken care of at smaller conventions.

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But to be clear: An endorsement is a party’s official blessing. It doesn’t actually mean a thing, as far as election law goes. Many — but not all — candidates have pledged to abide by the party’s endorsement, meaning if they lose, they won’t seek the party’s legal nomination, which happens in polling booths in the August primary.

It’s also possible a convention can conclude without a candidate being endorsed.

Still, conventions matter. And the headliners at both conventions this year are for the race to succeed Gov. Mark Dayton, who is not seeking re-election.

The battle for the hearts and minds — and votes — of delegates has been underway for months, in both public and private settings.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, who is seeking the DFL endorsement, held a news conference to essentially showcase his allies in the Legislature — a tactic certainly done with the knowledge that one of his opponents, six-term state Rep. Erin Murphy, has allies there as well.

Also on Thursday, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican who is not actually seeking his party’s endorsement at its convention, held his own news conference to announce his running mate, former state Senate president and current Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach. Pawlenty’s lieutenant governor from his eight years in office, Carol Molnau, has endorsed one of his leading opponents, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson.

Both Tims held their events in the same room on the grounds of the Capitol on Thursday morning — a final chance to grab the coverage of the state’s political press corps before journalists dispersed to Rochester and Duluth.

DFL GOVERNOR’S RACE

The DFL governor’s race at the convention is arguably the more exciting — because its outcome is less clear.

Of the most prominent candidates, Walz and Murphy also face State Auditor Rebecca Otto. Sixty percent of the expected 1,400 delegates are needed to win the endorsement, and none of the three is believed to have amassed that.

Political hacks love such a situation, where various scenarios can be imagined. How many rounds of voting will be needed before a winner’s bandwagon reaches the magic 840 delegates? Is it possible there will be no endorsement? And so on.

Of relevance: Walz has not pledged to abide by the endorsement — a posture that can be controversial among party faithful — while Murphy has said she will. So if Walz wins the endorsement, she’ll drop out. If Murphy wins, however, Walz has positioned himself to challenge her in a primary.

GOP GOVERNOR’S RACE

Pawlenty’s lack of presence at the GOP convention in Duluth will loom large. When he announced his candidacy in April, he said he felt it was too late to make an attempt to seek the endorsement. Some Republicans buy that, while some think it was a pragmatic move to avoid trying and failing.

Saturday’s battle in Duluth will be between Johnson, Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens, and Phillip Parrish, with many insiders believing Johnson holds a strong lead going in.

Presumably, whoever wins the endorsement will run against Pawlenty in the August primary.

Christopher Magan contributed to this report.

NOTE: This story originally neglected to mention Phillip Parrish.