During the run-up to the First District Republican convention, Allen Quist liked to confirm rumors that he was sleeping with his campaign manager, a former district director for Michele Bachmann. Given the fact that he and Julie Morse Quist were married when the Sixth District congresswoman's political career was a mere twinkle in the eye of the evangelical right, the quip drew appreciative chuckles at BPOU conventions.
But as we tune in today, fans of Emo Senator, Southern Minnesota's most watched telenovela, will be thrilled to find Mike Parry, the Belle of Waseca, getting a little help from a political operative's wife. An invitation to a Wednesday fundraiser at Biowood Processing, LLC lists Kristina Seppala as the contact person for the event, with a Washington DC area code and meridianhq.com email.
Seppala is married to Jon Seaton, a partner of in the Alexandria, VA, office of "full-service public affairs and political consulting firm" East Meridian.
No stranger to Minnesota's Republican melodramas, Seaton made a cameo appearance as National Political Director for the short-lived Pawlenty for President Exploratory Committee series in 2011. A press release from the production noted:
In 2006, Seaton served President Bush as Associate Director for Political Affairs. In that position, he was the primary White House liaison to Gov. Pawlenty's re-election campaign, as well as Republican campaigns and organizations in 10 other states, including Iowa. . . .
A native of Berkeley, Calif., Seaton will be moving to Minnesota with his wife Kristina Seppala, and their 2 year old daughter, Annabelle.
Both Seaton's and Seppala's Facebook pages list Washington Dc as their address, so the move must have been temporary.
Seppala was guest at a White House after dinner reception in 2006; the guest list notes the Republican National Committee as her affiliation; Open Secrets lists a number of reimbursement payments to Seppala by the RNC in 2003. Zoom contains two listings for her: for Meridian (updated 2/2/11) and as a RNC Regional Finance Director.
Her presence on Parry's team supports suggestions by friends of the scriptwriter that national Republican insiders are concerned about the strength that Quist is showing in the First--and illustrates the ramping up of the primary race.
Quist continues his wagon to longtime ally Michele Bachmann's star, with his most recent website posting noting that Bachmann weighs in: calls for immediate audit of MN Medicaid.
Meanwhile, Walz is off working to protect veterans' jobs and the prairies.
Tune in for our next exciting episode!
Image: Mike Parry in his beautiful bonnet, by Tild (above); Jon Seaton and Kristina Seppala, Facebook photo (below).
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