Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is in Bemidji today, urging college students to vote for Mark Dayton, the DFL candidate for governor. Rybak was a candidate for the job, but lost the DFL nomination to Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who in turn lost the primary to Dayton.

Rybak told the Bemidji Pioneer that his message to the Bemidji State University students will be: “Mark’s saying something pretty simple. It’s tough, but it’s simple. We’re going to ask the people who make the very most money in the state to give a little more, so middle-class Minnesotans can afford to go to college. That’s fair.”

He’ll also put in a pitch for Bemidji DFL state Sen. Mary Olson, who’s seeking reelection:

“One of the things I like about Mary Olson is that she’s gone down there [St. Paul] and ruffled feathers for the right reasons — she stands up for consumers and that makes the insurance industry nervous. So they have a hand-picked candidate running against her.”

That candidate is John Carlson, a Bemidji insurance agency owner and president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.