Obama General Election
Campaign Organization, Minnesota revised
April 14, 2009disclaimer Obama for America
State
Director
Jeff Blodgett
(announced June 16, 2008) Taking formal leave from his
position as executive director of Wellstone Action beginning July
1.
Senior advisor to Amy Klobuchar’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2006.
Oversaw get-out-the-vote efforts in Minnesota for Kerry/Edwards in
2004. Thirteen years as a senior aide, advisor, and campaign
manager to the late Senator Paul Wellstone; ran all three of
Wellstone’s Senate races. Began his career as a community
organizer working with family farmers during the farm crisis of the
1980s. M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Political
Director
Dominick Washington
Director of communications at UnitedHealth Group, May
2005-July 2008. Communications manager for Planned Parenthood of
Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, March 2003-May 2005.
Deputy press secretary to Sen. Tom
Daschle, 2000-02. Graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls,
SD. South Dakota native.
Communications
Director
Nick Kimball
Started out as director of new media on
Obama's
Iowa caucus campaign, then served as communications director on Obama's
MN caucus campaign, and as a press secretary on the campaign in TX,
IN and OR. Prior to joining the campaign Kimball worked at the
Minnesota
DFL for nearly two
years, serving as acting communications director and earlier, during
the
2006 cycle, as deputy communications director. Legislative aide
to
Minnesota
Senate Majority Leader in 2005. Field organizer on Tom Daschle’s
2004 campaign after working field for Kerry during the primaries.
Worked
in communications office of national juvenile justice non-profit from
2001-04.
Graduate of The George Washington University. Native of Minnesota.
New
Media Director
Xavier
Lopez-Ayala
Came to the Obama campaign
from the Hillary for President campaign. He worked for the Clinton
campaign in Iowa, Michigan,
California, Ohio
and Indiana.
Lopez-Ayala has previous experience working for a social networking
website, as
the student coordinator for the Mexican-American Political Association
and as a
community outreach fellow with Polaris Project's Los Angeles
office. Lopez-Ayala attends Aquinas College
in Grand Rapids, MI, where he majors in political science.
Campaign
for Change Headquarters: 777
Raymond Avenue | St. Paul, MN 55114
(North of Key's Cafe, off University Ave) ...office opening
July 17, 2008
State
Field Director
Jaclyn Urness
Started
as a field organizer on the Iowa caucus campaign and continued on to Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Ohio, Wyoming, Washington, Nevada, and Virginia during the
primary season. Worked for the Minnesota Coordinated Campaign in
2006. A legislative aide to former Minnesota Senate Majority
Leader Dean E. Johnson. She graduated from the University
of Iowa and grew up on a farm outside Fischer, MN.
Recently
served for six years as the executive director
of the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action. Public policy
director for OutFront Minnesota for several years. Member of Sen. Paul
Wellstone's Senate staff during his first term. Cooper has played
key roles in several Minnesota
elections, including Wellstone's campaigns and Skip Humphrey's
gubernatorial
campaign, and he served as campaign manager for Minneapolis Mayor
Sharon
Sayles Belton's successful 1997 reelection bid. Graduate of
Macalester
College and Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government.
Deputy
Press Secretary
Ben Grossman-Cohen
Previously
a consultant at M & R Strategic Services. In 2006 was a field
organizer on Missouri Project Victory. Graduate of Northwestern
University, 2006.
Youth
Vote Director
Andrew Zucker
GOTV
Director
Zach
Rodvold
State director for Sen. Amy
Klobuchar. State director for Minnesotans United
to Protect Social Security. In 2004 Rodvold served as the canvass
director for America Coming Together in Minnesota. Staff
assistant to Sen. Paul Wellstone. Graduate of the University of
Minnesota, 2001.
Voter
File
Brian
Smith
IT
Director
Paul
Weinstein
(July 2008) President of
Kepler Solutions, Inc. since Aug. 2003. Web application developer
for DigitalWork, 2006-08. Self-employed consultant.
Internet Systems Virtuoso at Red Hat, Inc., 2000-02. Database
engineer at C2Net Software, Inc., 1998-2000. M.B.A. in general
management, 2008. B.S. in computer science from Elmhurst College,
1998.
Operations
Director
Chris
Pohlad
Worked in Budapest, Hungary as an
analyst for a Pepsi bottling company; organized the Hungary for Obama
group. Degree in international relations
from the University of Puget Sound, 2007. Grandson of banker and
Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad.
Voter
Protection Coordinator
Antha Williams
Program
officer at the Beldon Fund, a philanthropic foundation in New
York. Previously served as organizing director with Green Corps,
a training program for aspiring environmental leaders. B.A. in
women's studies and biology from Dartmouth College, 1998.
Coordinated
Campaign
Manager
Jaime Tichner
(started at the DFL in Nov. 2005)
Graduate of Denison University.
Minnesota
DFL | 255 East
Plato Blvd | St. Paul, MN 55107-1623
651-293-1200>
Chair
Brian
Melendez
(elected May 2005) Partner at Faegre
& Benson LLP. A.B. (1986), M.T.S. (1991) and J.D. (1991) from
Harvard University.
Associate Chair Donna Cassutt Secretary
Susan Rego
Treasurer Bill Davis
Affirmative Action Officer Megan Thomas Finance Chair
Mike Rothman
Executive
Director
Andy
O'Leary
(started in Sept. 2005) Formerly
political director for the Indiana Democratic Party.
Outreach Director
RoseAnn
Zimbro
Voter File Manager
Jared
Nordlund
Party Affairs Director
David
Weinlick
Communications
Director
John
Stiles
(announced June 17, 2008; succeeded
Kelly Schwinghammer...Stiles had served as Associate Communications
Director for the past year)
Associate
Communications Director
Eric
Fought
(announced June 17, 2008) More than 15 years of experience
in communications and public relations, including as an award-winning
broadcast journalist. Campaign manager on Tony Raimondo's 2008
Democratic primary campaign for U.S. Senate in Nebraska.
Communications director for the Nebraska Democratic Party.
Regional director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of the Navy
and communications director for a statewide child-advocacy
organization. Originally from Wisconsin.
Finance
Director
David
Kaplan
Comptroller
Leah Drilias
Administrative
Secretary
Jan
Rein
Administrative
secretary in the 2004 cycle as well.
Regional
1st CD - Sarah Duevel 505 N Riverfront Drive,
Mankato, MN 56001