Rybak hires Tina Smith to manage his campaign.

Posted at 1:45 PM on November 17, 2009 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has hired his chief of staff, Tina Smith, to manage his campaign for governor. Jeremy Hanson, who currently serves as Rybak's communications director, will become chief of staff. John Stiles, who recently managed St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's reelection campaign, will become Rybak's spokesman in the mayor's office.

Smith was a senior adviser to President Obama's Minnesota campaign in 2008 and served as VP of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota before she was hired as Rybak's Chief of Staff. She also ran Walter Mondale's 2002 U.S. Senate campaign and Ted Mondale's 1998 campaign for governor.

Update: Smith sent out an e-mail to supporters giving more detail of the campaign hires:

I also want to say a word about the team coming into place for the Governor's race. Julie Hottinger will serve as Deputy Campaign Manager, with responsibility for overall campaign operations.

Julie's depth of campaign experience, from field to finance, as well as her knowledge of statewide politics, is terrific. Our finance team is lead by the effective, smart Dinah Dale, who comes to us most recently from the Franken Campaign. Our Field Director is Alex Falconner, who most recently headed up the Minneapolis Coordinated Campaign and also brings great experience and energy. His team is already working to organize for the caucuses.

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