Congressman George Radanovich has announced his retirement to better support his wife who is battling cancer.  I wish them the best.

While the seat has been a Republican stronghold, GOP registration has gone from 47.64% five years ago to 43.62% today.  That is a huge decline, but not really enough to attract a top tier Democrat.  It has attracted a great deal of Republican interest because there are so few political jobs to go around.

The latest rumor has to do with Bill Jones, the former Secretary of State and author of the 3 Strikes Law.  He probably has the ability to clear out the Republican Primary, but former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson seems to like the Tea Party riff and could give it a go even with Jones in the race.  

Although Jones has a statewide stature, he has some major defeats in his past.  He could only manage 16% of the vote and a third place finish in the GOP primary against Bill Simon and Richard Riorden.  He lost to Barbara Boxer by 20 points.  Most Republican activists believe that anyone with a pulse should be able to beat Barbara Boxer (they gravely misunderestimate her) and that could put some doubt into Jones’ candidacy.

Jeff Denham has the support of Radanovich and (as important) David Dreier, but all of that was engineered before the Jones rumors and the apparent interest from former Congressman Richard Pombo.  

Do any of these candidates actually live in the district?  Not that its at all important in a Republican primary in the era of Tom McClintock and Dan Lungren.  Regardless, it could be one of the major primary shootouts in the nation.