[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan today announced key staff members who will work in policy, communications, and other senior positions in the Governor’s office. The Walz-Flanagan Administration is hiring individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences as well as a shared vision of one Minnesota. Additional staff will be announced at a later date.

Chris Schmitter, Chief of Staff
Chris Schmitter, originally from Rochester, previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Governor Walz during his time in the United States House of Representatives, and as Campaign Manager during Mr. Walz’s first congressional re-election in 2008. A graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Minnesota Law School, he was a law clerk for Minnesota’s Chief U.S. District Court Judge, John Tunheim and for Judge Sidney Thomas, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Schmitter most recently worked as an attorney with the law firm of Green Espel PLLP, where he litigated for public- and private-sector clients.

Hue Nguyen, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Legislative Affairs
Hue Nguyen has over 16 years of experience at the Minnesota Capitol. Prior to joining the Walz/Flanagan Administration, Nguyen served as an Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of overseeing state and federal affairs, she also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for Governor Mark Dayton covering PreK-12 Education, Higher Education and State and Local Government.  Nguyen has also worked for the League of Minnesota Cities as an Intergovernmental Relations Representative where she provided support to a statewide organization representing elected and appointed city officials, she also worked for the Minnesota Senate for over five years as a committee administrator for the Senate Committee on Taxes and as a Senior Leadership Advisor for the Senate Majority Leader.

Krista Broton, Policy Director
Krista Broton most recently served as Director of Minnesota Senate Minority Research, leading policy staff and supporting the caucus in tax policy research. Prior to that role, she worked in communications and media relations for the Senate.  

Kristin Beckmann, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Scheduling
Kristin Beckmann is the former Deputy Mayor of the City of Saint Paul.  Her background is in public administration, state lobbying, non-profit management, and political campaigns.  She is a graduate of the Humphrey Institute and Macalester College.  She and her husband Robert Richman have two kids and live in Saint Paul.

Kayla Castañeda, Communications Director
Kayla Castañeda served as the Communications Director for the Walz-Flanagan campaign. She previously served as the Communications Director for the DFL Party, and as Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Deputy Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Cardinal independent student newspaper.

Teddy Tschann, Press Secretary
Teddy Tschann previously worked at the United States Senate as an aide to Senator Al Franken and later to Senator Tina Smith. He’s worked on several U.S. Senate campaigns in Minnesota including Franken’s successful re-election in 2014 and Smith’s successful special election in 2018. He also served as the Minnesota Press Secretary for Secretary Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Karl C. Procaccini, General Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff
Karl C. Procaccini was a partner at Greene Espel PLLP, where his practice focused on commercial litigation and anti-corruption investigations, compliance, and counseling. He has also served as an adjunct law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and William Mitchell College of Law.  Prior to entering private practice, Procaccini was a law clerk for the Honorable Diana E. Murphy and the Honorable Michael J. Davis. Karl earned his law and bachelor’s degrees at Harvard and a master’s degree in international and comparative law at the American University in Cairo.

Patrick Ness, Senior Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor
Originally from Duluth, Patrick Ness most recently as the Public Policy Director with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. With twenty years of experience working on low-income issues through direct service, legislative advocacy, leadership development, coalition building, and community engagement, Patrick has worked on a broad range of issues relating to poverty and racial equity, and is a community faculty member in the Master of Advocacy and Political Leadership program at Metropolitan State University.

Andrew Olson, Assistant Chief of Staff for Appointments
Andrew Olson serves as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Appointments, where he will be managing the Governor’s judicial appointments, along with board and commission appointments. Previously, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff, Director of Appointments, Deputy Director of Appointments, Appointments Coordinator, and Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of Governor Mark Dayton. During the 2010 campaign, he was the DFL Field Director for Senate District 14.

Amanda Simpson, Chief Operations Officer
Amanda Simpson started with the Office of the Governor in 2004.  She served with Governor Pawlenty as the Manager of the Governor’s Residence, with Governor Dayton as Director of Operations and is honored to serve as Chief Operating Officer for Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.  Amanda and Greg Simpson are the proud parents of Benjamin and members of Beth El Synagogue.

Other recent hires include:

Hannah Flom, Digital Director

Jessica Oaxaca, Communications Advisor

Emily Parks, Deputy General Counsel

Emily Lefholz, Policy Advisor

Cassandra Moore, Policy Advisor

Suzanne Sobotka, Policy Advisor

Aara Johnson, Policy Advisor

Emmet Hedin, Policy Aide