Jeffrey (Jeff) Blodgett is a left-of-center political operative who was a longtime aide and campaign manager for the late former U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and who worked as the Minnesota state director for the 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaigns. ^{1 1}

Blodgett is the founder of Wellstone Action, an organization he ran from 2003 to 2010. Wellstone Action later rebranded as RePower, a left-of-center campaign and activist training organization devoted to achieving a “pro-Black” social justice movement centered on “women of color and trans and gender-expansive people of color” that seeks “liberation from white supremacy and patriarchy.” ^{2 3 1}

Background and Education

Jeff Blodgett was born on May 7, 1961 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. At an early age he moved to Concord, Massachusetts, later returning to Minnesota to attend Carleton College in Northfield. He received a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. During his time at Carleton College, Blodgett met Paul Wellstone, then a professor of politics. When Wellstone ran for United States Senate in the 1990 election, he asked Blodgett to run his campaign. ^{2  1}

Political Activities

Jeff Blodgett spent 13 years as a campaign manager, senior aide, and advisor to then-U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN). Blodgett ran all three of Wellstone’s election campaigns. Senator Wellstone died on October 25, 2002 while campaigning for the 2002 election, when his small campaign plane crashed while landing in northeastern Minnesota due to bad weather. Senator Wellstone was described by the press as a “progressive” and a “fiery, fist-shaking liberal.” ^{1 4 5}

Following the death of then-Senator Wellstone, Blodgett, Wellstone’s two sons, and others founded Wellstone Action, which later rebranded as RePower, a left-of-center campaign and activist training organization that promotes organizing, electoral activism, and supports recently elected officials through its Progressive Governance Academy. RePower desires to “build a critical mass of social justice movements” that is “Pro-Black” and achieves “liberation from white supremacy and patriarchy.” The organization claims to be center on “women of color and trans and gender-expansive people of color.” Blodgett ran Wellstone Action from 2003 to 2010. ^{2 3 1}

Blodgett is also the co-founder of Wellstone Action Fund, the charitable affiliate of Wellstone Action that later rebranded as the RePower Fund. ⁶

In 2008 and 2012, Blodgett was the Minnesota state director for the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama. ¹

Books

Jeff Blodgett co-authored Politics the Wellstone Way and Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way. Politics the Wellstone Way was published in 2013 and was billed as a guide to help activists channel grassroots energy into winning electoral campaigns. Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way was published in 2008 and was billed as a “comprehensive guide” for “progressive” candidates and campaign workers to win elections. ^{1 7 8}

Political Donations

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Jeff Blodgett had made over 600 political donations between 1989 and 2024 both to Democratic and Republican politicians as well as to Democratic and Republican-aligned organizations. Among his earliest donations was on June 14, 1989, a donation of $200 to Wellstone for Senate to support Paul Wellstone (D-MN), who was a senator in Minnesota from 1991 until 2002. Blodgett made no reportable donations between 1993 and 1998. Other notable donations included $1,000 in support of Senator John Kerry (D-MA) for President in 2004; $750 to support the congressional campaign of Tim Walz (D-MN), who would be nominated by Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris as her vice presidential running mate in 2024; and a large number of donations to Obama for America and ActBlue. Blodgett also supported the Joe Biden for President campaign in 2020. During the 2024 election, Blodgett made multiple donations both to the pro-Kamala Harris Harris Victory Fund and Harris for President campaign. ⁹

1. “Jeff Blodgett.” Conservation Minnesota Voter Center. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.cmvotercenter.org/jeff-blodgett.
2. “Jeff Blodgett.” Community Celebration. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.communitycelebration.org/elder/blodgett.
3. “About” Re:Power. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://repower.org/about/.
4. Ragsdale, Jim. “U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone killed in plane crash along with his wife, daughter and five others.” Twin Cities Pioneer Press. October 26, 2002. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.twincities.com/2002/10/26/paul-wellstone-killed-in-plane-crash/.
5. “Jeff Blodgett.” The Nation. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.thenation.com/authors/jeff-blodgett/.
6. “Founding Director of Wellstone Action, Jeff Blodgett, to Deliver Carleton College Convocation.” Carleton. February 4, 2011. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.carleton.edu/news/stories/founding-director-of-wellstone-action-jeff-blodgett-to-deliver-carleton-college-convocation/.
7. “Politics the Wellstone Way.” Amazon. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Wellstone-Way-Progressive-Candidates-ebook/dp/B00IK7WS0K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&sr=1-1
8. “Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way.” Amazon. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Your-Election-Wellstone-Comprehensive-ebook/dp/B00EDDBHFW?ref_=ast_author_dp.
9. “Individual Contributions: Jeffrey Blodget.” FEC. Accessed July 3, 2025.  https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=Jeff+blodget.