Walz hires former Wellstone aide Josh Syrjamaki

posted by Edward Felker, PB Washington Bureau

Josh Syrjamaki, the former campaign and staff aide to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., will join freshman Democratic Rep. Tim Walz's office as chief of staff in December, the congressman announced today.

Syrjamaki will leave his post as the Minnesota director of America Votes, the get-out-the-vote organization backed by labor and progressive/liberal groups that helped get DFL voters to the polls last year, though not directly with Walz's campaign.

He is to work primarily in Minnesota, replacing Rochester native Peg McGlinch, who worked out of the D.C. office. She left the congressman's staff last month.

Walz's communications director Meredith Salsbery said the hire and McGlinch's departure were not part of a staff shake-up. Salsbery said her departure, which she said was for personal reasons, started a search for a new chief of staff. She stressed that Syrjamaki's policy and constituent case work experience with Wellstone was the big draw for Walz, more than his political experience.

In Washington, legislative director and deputy chief of staff Jeremy Bratt will manage the congressman's Capitol Hill office, she said.

More to come.