Jenifer Loon was endorsed during the House District 42B Republican Endorsing Convention at Eden Prairie High School Tuesday.Loon is a Republican candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives seat in District 42B, currently held by Erik Paulsen, who is running in the Third District Congressional race. The other candidate for endorsement was Kathy Veurink.Loon was endorsed on the first ballot. "It was a very positive atmosphere," Loon said. "I just felt a lot of energy and a lot of support in the room."A former chief of staff for the Committee on Small Business in the U.S. House of Representatives, she is a former president of the PTO at Eden Lake Elementary and former chair of the Curriculum Advisory Committee. She is described in a news release as a small business advocate and community volunteer.She said that one of her top priorities is the economy."I'm very concerned about our economy," she said. "Minnesota's tax and regulatory climate is not very business friendly and we're starting to see the results of that."Other priorities include education and health care.Loon and her husband, Doug Loon, have two daughters, Erica, 14, and Rachel, 11, and are members of Prairie Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie. Loon is set to face Eden Prairie Planning Commissioner and small business owner Jerry Pitzrick in the November election."I look forward, as we did for the endorsing convention, to running a very positive campaign," she said. "I think people don't like to see partisan bickering and negative campaigning and I would agree with that."-- Compiled by Karla Wennerstrom