Gill Campaign Manager Steps Down

A top staffer for Congressional Candidate David Gill has left the campaign.

Michael Richards served as the Bloomington Democrat’s campaign manager until he announced earlier this week that he would step aside. Richards said he needs more time to focus on his duties on the Champaign County Board, and on other efforts to get Democratic candidates elected this November.

“This was a number two race in the country that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee invested money in,” Richards said. “It’s just not possible to be deputy county board chair and to spend a hundred hours a week planning a campaign at the same time.”

Gill is running for Congress for the fourth time. Deputy campaign manager Tom Alte said Richards’ departure won’t hurt Gill’s chances at beating Republican candidate Rodney Davis and Independent candidate John Hartman in November.

“This is going to allow Mike on both his other elections that he’s working on, as well as his reelection to be more successful as well as the Gill campaign,” Alte said. “He just didn’t have the time to dedicate to a top tier campaign, so it’s going to work out great for both of us. We’re both going to be successful.”

Richards said he plans to continue volunteering for Gill’s campaign, and dedicating much of his time to Urbana Democrat Naomi Jakobsson’s re-election bid.