On the Campaign Trail with Ed Tibbetts

Tom O’Donnell, who served nine years as an aide to ex-congressman Lane Evans, has been picked to be Rep. Phil Hare’s new chief of staff.

O’Donnell will replace Dennis King, who retired at the end of last month.

King, a Florida native, was Evans’ chief of staff for his 24 years in Congress, then went to work for Hare.

“Tom is extremely bright and capable and he understands the values of 17th District families,” Hare said in a statement. “I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead my entire operation into the future.”

Hare also paid tribue to King, an affable guy who first went to Congress to work for Dante Fascell of Florida. In a floor speech last month, Hare mused that people might wonder how a Duke University graduate with a law degree from Georgetown might be pals with a Rock Island factory worker. “It’s simple,” Hare said. “Dennis cares about the people of the 17th District as much as I do.”

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