Ricky Gill, the 24-year-old Republican running for California’s 11th district seat, has always been a driven kid.

Early last week, the Gill campaign announced that it had raised $420,000 in the second quarter, largely because of a letter that the candidate sent out to supporters.

Word of the boy wonder’s fundraising coup reminded one former Hill staffer of  interactions he had with the persistent Gill nearly a decade ago.

 “That kid was the bane of my existence,” a staffer for former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) tells us. “Every day I would get a 9 a.m. call — that’s 6 a.m. Cali time — from him, or his dad and sometimes both.”

The daily calls to Pombo’s office requested a letter supporting Gill’s application to be the student representative on the California Board of Education, our tipster says. Finally, the Congressman sent the letter.

Gill was 15 when he started his daily calls and 17 when he was chosen to serve on the board. Now he’s running for Congress — and for Pombo’s old seat, no less. 

Spokesman Colin Hunter says Gill did start the application early but says that’s common, because the process takes many months to complete.