McClintock in, Oller out

The Republican race for the 4th District congressional seat being vacated by scandal-tainted John Doolittle is getting more interesting every day. On Tuesday (March 4), termed-out state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, the dean of hard-right state legislators, threw his hat in the ring. Soon after, state Sen. Rico Oller, who’d announced his candidacy several months ago, withdrew from the race and threw his support to McClintock.

McClintock is running against former 3rd District Rep. Doug Ose, a moderate Republican. In a press release, Oller said he found the idea that he and McClintock might split the primary vote and deliver the nomination to Ose “repugnant to all in which I believe.”

Ose is already painting McClintock as a carpetbagger. “I don’t believe the voters of this district want an L.A. politician who doesn’t understand the issues and people of Northern California,” he told the Los Angeles Times. Ironically, McClintock has long gotten flak in his district for spending most of his time in his Sacramento-area digs.

The lone Democratic candidate—and actual resident—in the heavily Republican district is Charlie Brown, who narrowly lost to Doolittle in 2006.