Matt Entenza Photo: Wikipedia

Matt Entenza Photo: Wikipedia

Dana Houle came to Minnesota with one goal in mind: defeating U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. So when Elwyn Tinklenberg, whose campaign Houle was managing, decided to pull the plug on his congressional bid it seemed likely that the veteran political operative would soon be headed back to Washington, D.C. But Houle apparently couldn’t resist the allure of Minnesota in winter: he’s now the campaign manager for Matt Entenza’s gubernatorial campaign.

“This is a challenging race with many good candidates,” said Entenza in a statement announcing the move. “Dana’s broad experience and smarts will be tremendously valuable as we continue to pursue the DFL endorsement and victory in 2010.”

Indeed Houle has racked up an impressive track record of knocking off GOP incumbents in congressional races around the country. In 2006 he helped Paul Hodes defeat a sitting Republican in New Hampshire. Two years later he oversaw Jim Himes’ successful challenge to a 10-term Republican incumbent in Connecticut.

So why is he sticking around Minnesota to take on a gubernatorial race? Reached at Entenza’s office, Houle does concede that the opportunity to experience a Minnesota winter was a prime draw, along with the possibility of consuming an entire four-course meal off of a stick. “I couldn’t leave before the State Fair,” he laughs.

More seriously, Houle says that Entenza contacted him within 90 minutes of the announcement that Tinklenberg was shutting down his campaign. In addition, Houle didn’t see any other House races that looked particularly enticing.

“In a sense I’ve done that and I wanted to look for a new type of challenge,” he says. “This is the only race I’d consider running, but for some reason I thought that Matt already had a campaign manager. So things worked out nicely.”

The marquee hiring is another sign that Entenza intends to do (and spend) whatever it takes to head the Democratic ticket. Houle says that the candidate’s emphasis in the coming months will be on talking to potential DFL delegates and securing their support for the party’s endorsement.

“He’s showing he has the ability to be a great governor, but also showing that he has the capacity to win,” Houle says.