The statewide straw poll contest gave the most enthusiastic party members just their second opportunity to voice an opinion in either contest.

Tincher, who currently serves as the director of caucus and legislative services for the House DFL, has accepted a job as Dayton's deputy chief of staff for policy and legislative affairs. Tincher replaces Michele Kelm-Helgen, who was a critical figure in the passage of a bill to build a new Vikings stadium and has since been appointed chairwoman of the newly-formed stadium authority.

Zach Rodvold, House DFL Director of Legislative and Caucus Services, will now be the campaign director for the caucus. Redistricting analyst Jaime Tincher will takover Rodvold's job in mid January.

Democrats in Minnesota have been slow to rise to the redistricting fight this time around. During session, DFL caucuses in the Minnesota House and Senate passed on the chance to produce maps to counter a GOP majority proposal that pitted 26 incumbents against one another, the vast majority of them DFLers.

With Minnesota's Census numbers expected to arrive as early as the middle of next month, state lawmakers are already laying plans to redraw Minnesota legislative districts and the state's eight congressional districts. But the partisan divide between Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican majorities in the Legislature portend a round of redistricting that is likely to fall apart - just as it has done in the face of divided governments over the past four decades.

Jaime Tincher, who earned plaudits for steering House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher's to a near-upset victory in the DFL primary, has joined the state party's coordinated campaign. Tincher started this week as director of the DFL's get-out-the-vote operation in support of Mark Dayton and the rest of the party's ticket.

Matt Entenza, a DFLer running for Minnesota governor, released a new television advertisement that goes after DFL-endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher with just a few days to go before the primary election.

In the days leading up to the DFL state convention in Duluth, the widespread belief was that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak had established crucial momentum. Of course, that’s not exactly how it played out. Kelliher led on all six ballots and exited the convention center with the party’s backing. Rybak went back to Minneapolis City Hall. In the end, organization trumped charisma. Kelliher earned the party’s nod through months of meticulous planning, a well-executed convention floor plan, loyal support from her fellow House members and a final boost from organized labor.

Back in the 1990s, in another political lifetime, political operatives like Mark Penn and Karl Rove made names for themselves by exploiting the advantages of closely defined messages to specific groups of voters via direct mail.

Adam Duininck, political coordinator for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, has joined the DFL's coordinated campaign. The labor union will continue to pay Duininck's salary, but he'll be working with the party to get its slate of candidates elected in November. That principally means helping to elect House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher governor.