Touted as bringing a younger voice to the DFL, Boll quickly rose through the ranks to become a party leader and "whiz kid" of sorts.
For his own legislative district, Boll quickly allied with Jim Vickerman, a Murray County commissioner and farmer, whom he pushed to run for the state senate in District 28 (which became District 22 after the 1992 legislative redistricting) against incumbent Senator Doran Isackson.