Edina and West Bloomington's state representatives lost the backing of their own party Saturday, as delegates endorsed their challengers for office.

The endorsements came after the representatives bucked the party line and voted for the transportation bill put forward by Democrats.

Republican delegates met at South View Middle School for the District 41 convention and voted to endorse Keith Downey for District 41A representative and Jan Schneider for District 41B representative.

This is the first time the Republican Party has not endorsed Erhardt, in his ninth term, and Peterson, in his second term.

"I came in here knowing that I do have a strong base behind me, just not this base," said Peterson, R-Bloomington.

Both Erhardt and Peterson still plan to run for re-election this fall.

In a short speech before delegates, Peterson defended his vote for the transportation bill, saying it will provide millions of dollars for road projects in Bloomington and Edina.

Schneider, a Bloomington Republican who ran for state senate in 2002, said there was plenty of time left in the session to work on a better transportation bill. She described herself as being more in line with Republican values and beliefs.

"If we were only talking about one bad vote I would not be standing here today," Schneider said.

Schneider said she decided to run for state representative around the beginning of March after a group of Republicans asked her to seek the party's endorsement.

Keith Downey of Edina, who launched his campaign several months ago, said he would not have supported the transportation bill.

According to his campaign website, Downey would like to increase usage-based fee lanes and require MnDOT to be more cost-effective. He would also like to create a common-cost-effectiveness index to compare the value of all road and transit projects.

"I still firmly believe our platform is the right thing for Minnesota," Downey said.

Erhardt, R-Edina, noted that former Gov. Arne Carlson was not endorsed by his party when he ran for re-election, yet he still won.

Erhardt said his moderate politics is more in line with where his constituents stand.

"I have been getting 60 percent of the vote," Erhardt said.

Peterson was first elected to the Legislature in 2004 as the winner of a three-way race to replace former state Rep. Alice Seagren, the Bloomington Republican picked by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to become the state's education commissioner.

Peterson won the House District 41B seat in 2004 with 11,316 votes, or nearly 53 percent of the total. He carried 15 of the 16 precincts in the district.

In 2006, Peterson won a second term, getting 9,340 votes - 53.3 percent of the total. His opponent, Paul Rosenthal, got 8,147 votes.

Erhardt won the 2006 race in 41A with 12.133 votes - about 59.5 percent. His opponent, DFLer Jeff Rich, got 8,230 votes - 40.4 percent of the total.

Bloomington Community Editor Harvey T. Rockwood contributed to this report.

"I still firmly believe our platform is the right thing for Minnesota," Downey said.

Erhardt, R-Edina, noted that former Gov. Arne Carlson was not endorsed by his party when he ran for re-election, yet he still won.

Erhardt said his moderate politics is more in line with where his constituents stand.

"I have been getting 60 percent of the vote," Erhardt said.

Peterson was first elected to the Legislature in 2004 as the winner of a three-way race to replace former state Rep. Alice Seagren, the Bloomington Republican picked by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to become the state's education commissioner.

Peterson won the House District 41B seat in 2004 with 11,316 votes, or nearly 53 percent of the total. He carried 15 of the 16 precincts in the district.

In 2006, Peterson won a second term, getting 9,340 votes - 53.3 percent of the total. His opponent, Paul Rosenthal, got 8,147 votes.

Erhardt won the 2006 race in 41A with 12.133 votes - about 59.5 percent. His opponent, DFLer Jeff Rich, got 8,230 votes - 40.4 percent of the total.

Bloomington Community Editor Harvey T. Rockwood contributed to this report.