Superior native leads Harris-Walz ground campaign
Nov. 5—WILMINGTON, Del. — Dan Kanninen is no stranger to politics.
The Superior native has worked for former state Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, before working as the legislative director for former Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. He even has some presidential wins under his belt, helping to get President Barack Obama elected in 2008 and 2012.
This year, he focused on getting Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz elected. He is the director of their ground campaign in battleground states.
"I was obviously very interested, as we all were, in the election this cycle," Kanninen said. "I believe very strongly, and have believed, that Donald Trump is an existential threat and that a New Way Forward is important politics and jumping onto a campaign to help build something that could create an infrastructure to defeat him was something I was really interested in pursuing."
Kanninen, who works as a consultant, joined President Joe Biden and Harris' reelection campaign in Wilmington, Delaware, in January to build that infrastructure. He stayed on after Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris.
Jauch said he's not surprised that Kanninen was selected for such an important role in the campaign "because he understands the best part of politics is paying attention to people."
Reflecting on his start working for Jauch, Kanninen said, "It was never lost on me that what we thought was happening from Madison may have looked a lot different in Superior or in Bayfield or Ashland.
"And so having people that are there on the ground that you trust to work through the issues, I think is the best way to make politics work," Kanninen continued. "Bob used to always say the politics that's closest to the people is always the best ... we want to be where people are."
Jauch said that came naturally to Kanninen.
"When he was working for me, he was hardworking, people-connected and a big problem-solver," Jauch said. "He was extraordinarily beneficial to me and the senate when he would take dozens of issues and make sense out of solutions. He had a real sense of what was right for people. It was almost a natural characteristic."
As the battleground director, Kanninen said his role has been to build and drive forward the teams in the all the battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"We've got 2,500 staff and 357 offices," Kanninen said. In Wisconsin alone, it's 250 staff and 52 offices across the state, he said.
Kanninen said his biggest priority has been to build solid teams that know their state well.
"The thing about campaigns is there is no typical day," Kanninen said. "But I talk to the teams that lead these states every day. We work through a number of issues. We work through their program, whether it's helping them drive forward on their voter contact efforts. In Wisconsin, they've knocked on more than a million doors from the team there. And they're knocking on doors, not just in traditionally Democratic areas. They're talking to Republicans too because we need to persuade people, right. They've knocked on 350,000 doors in Wisconsin from red counties."
Voter contact is important, according to Kanninen, who is the son of former Superior Senior High School principal and Superior School District superintendent Ben Kanninen.
Part of his job has included working with state teams when Harris, Walz and other principal members of the team travel to their state to help shape what those events look like. At headquarters in Wilmington, he works with a team of 100 seeking a path to win in battleground states.
"So we're looking at the analytics, and we're looking at the polling, and we're looking at the feedback we're getting at the doors, and we're understanding the political activity on the ground that tells us something about how it's going," Kanninen said.
"What's important about this job is, on the one hand, it's building this big organization that's national, and it's not all the staff and all those offices," he continued. "We're all tethered to the same objective, which is to have Kamala Harris become the next president. But at the same time, every state is different and it's a different election in every state. What works in Wisconsin may not be the same issue you're working with in North Carolina. ... It's a unique individual campaign in these places."
Being nimble and willing to work through things quickly is important, Kanninen said. He had to work on one issue or problem in one state then move on to a very different situation in a state on the other side of the country,
"You have to trust your teams because we can't make every decision from headquarters all the time," Kanninen said. "I can't be in seven states at once across four time zones."
