Barack Obama plans to open a campaign office in Fargo on Saturday and the Democratic presidential hopeful may visit the state early next year, a spokesman said.

Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, has named former North Dakota Democratic state chairman Dan Hannaher as a senior adviser, said Steve Hildebrand, a deputy manager of the Obama campaign.

Hannaher said he would be helping to develop North Dakota grass-roots support networks for Obama, whom he called "the most remarkable public figure of my life, really, at this point."

"I probably put a bit of a heavy weight on Barack's shoulders because I sense true greatness in him," Hannaher said. "He just is a transformational figure, I think, for this country."

Hannaher, who runs a Fargo office supply business, was the state Democratic chairman from 1995 to 1997.

Hildebrand, in a telephone conference call on Tuesday, said Obama's campaign would "build county-based organizations" across North Dakota. "Just because the headquarters is in Fargo doesn't necessarily mean anything, other than that is the physical location."

Matt Weinstein will be the North Dakota caucus director for the Obama campaign, Hildebrand said.

Weinstein has worked on campaigns in Virginia, Ohio and Washington state, and he was a field director for the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, which led a successful effort last year to repeal a bill to ban virtually all abortions in the state.

North Dakota is one of 21 states holding a presidential caucus or primary election on Feb. 5, after contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida. North Dakota Democrats and Republicans are holding presidential preference caucuses on Feb. 5.

Hildebrand said the Obama campaign has not made travel plans after the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, but he said "the likelihood of Barack coming to North Dakota is a pretty good one" between Jan. 3 and Feb. 5.

"There's a lot of states like North Dakota … that are going to voice their wishes on Feb. 5," Hildebrand said. "It's important that rural voters have the opportunity to play a real role in deciding who the party puts forward as a nominee for president."

Obama is the first Democratic candidate to open a campaign office in North Dakota. Among Republicans, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani opened a North Dakota office in Fargo last August.