PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has announced his hiring of a campaign manager for his 2010 run for governor.

Lynch has hired Mike Mikus, whom he identified as a "veteran Democratic political operative,'' who has "worked in nearly every capacity on 17 political campaigns in 14 states. He has managed races for mayor, Congress and governor and has campaigned for candidates in every region of the country.''

According to the Lynch press release, Mikus "managed the successful 2008 re-election of Rep. Jason Altmire in Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District,'' after Altmire "defeated former Rep. Melissa Hart, 56 percent to 44 percent, despite the fact that Barack Obama received just 44 percent of the vote in the district.''

Though Mikus is not exactly a household name in Rhode Island, the Lynch statement said he has "worked extensively in organized labor, a key constituency in a Democratic primary,'' as the national field director for Strong American Schools, "a non-partisan group funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote education reform,'' and as "the Southern regional political director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2004 election cycle.''