Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, enters into his second race for the Fourth District U.S. Representative this year with a run for the GOP nomination in the June 8 primary.

His earliest opposition appears to be from fellow Republican Michael Babich, of Auburn, according to his website. He is the vice-president of a medical firm.



Democratic hopefuls have not surfaced yet, according to several sources aligned with the party at the state and national level.

However, the sources expected a Democrat to file during the official candidacy declaration period, from Feb. 16 to March 12.

The Fourth District spot was dominated for nine terms by Republican John Doolittle. Doolittle beat political newcomer Charlie Brown by a mere 9,000 votes in a close 2006 race that proved his seat was vulnerable.

The narrow victory came on the heels of news Doolittle was being investigated for alleged influence-peddling with now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Although no charges were ever filed, Doolittle decided to not run for a tenth term when Brown challenged him a second time and it became clear his seat was vulnerable in the once iron-clad GOP district.

McClintock ran in 2008, smashing Doug Ose in the Republican primary. He then barely squeaked by Brown in the general election with less than 2,000 votes to sparer.