Mass. Democrats to get new executive director

Less than five months before the November election – when Democrats will work not just on the presidential race but also to defend dozens of contested seats in the state Legislature – the party is getting a new executive director.

Matthew R. Fenlon, who has held the job since October 2013, will take a public affairs post at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He will hand the reins next week to longtime Democratic operative Jason Cincotti, said three people familiar with the matter.

Both Fenlon and Cincotti declined comment.

Cincotti is a frequent strategist for Democratic campaigns, helping to elect Katherine Clark to the US House in 2013, and is close to Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. He was coordinated campaign manager in the 2004 cycle, after which he worked as the state party’s director of operations and, later, co-founded Cence Cincotti Strategies.