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A Superior native who attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dan Kanninen will be Obama’s state director.
The Obama campaign also said Tim Mahone would be its political director in Wisconsin and Phil Walzak will be its communications director. Mahone was the political director for Gov. Jim Doyle’s re-election campaign in 2006; Walzak most recently worked for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain have been ramping up their campaigns in Wisconsin, where both believe they can win in November. McCain will return to Wisconsin for a campaign visit on Friday.
McCain’s campaign previously announced Mike Duffey would be its Wisconsin director.
Kanninen, 29, said his job will be to turn out more voters than ever and keep the state in the Democratic column for the sixth straight presidential election. He said he became an Obama supporter after reading the Illinois senator’s second book, “The Audacity of Hope.”
Kanninen helped Obama’s campaign during primaries in Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina, taking leave time from his state job, which he resigned last month.
Kanninen started working as a Senate page before joining Jauch’s staff a decade ago.
Jauch, a Democrat from Poplar, praised Obama’s campaign for hiring Kanninen rather than bringing in someone from another state. He called Kanninen one of the best staff members in the Legislature.
“He knows how to connect the dots and link all regions and interests,” Jauch said. “He is a deeply grounded individual who is smart and has good instincts. And he’s well liked. When you consider the hand-holding necessary and ego-nurturing required for a campaign like this, he’s perfect for it.”
Meanwhile, Democratic operative Tanya Bjork has been named to run the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s general election coordinated campaign.
Bjork was convicted of two misdemeanors in 2005 as part of a scandal involving illegal campaigning in the Wisconsin Legislature as an aide to then-Sen. Brian Burke. She has since worked for Emily’s List, a group that supports female candidates running as Democrats.
