We’ve got candidates!

With filing season now open, candidates for office are starting to emerge.

In the Second Assembly District, Rancho Tehama resident Don Bird (pictured) has taken out papers to run in the Republican primary against incumbent Jim Nielsen. Bird has been a thorn in Nielsen’s side for a long time, charging that Nielsen gained his position after lying about his residency, saying he lived in a doublewide mobile home in Gerber, when he actually lives in Woodland, outside the district.

Yolo County farmer Charlie Schaupp told the CN&R he too intends to run against Nielsen. Schaupp lost to Nielsen in the 2008 Republican primary.

Both Jim Reed, a Democrat from Fall River Mills, and Pete Stiglich, a Republican from Cottonwood, have announced for 11-term Rep. Wally Herger’s Second Congressional District seat.

Here in Butte County, long-time District Attorney Mike Ramsey will face a challenge for the first time in eight years. Sacramento attorney Lance Daniel announced his candidacy Monday, after renting a house locally to establish residency. As described in a recent CN&R cover story (“Ramsey in the crosshairs,” by Tom Gascoyne, Dec. 10), Daniels is backed by a group of disaffected business owners angered by Ramsey’s forceful prosecution of environmental laws.