In a slate mailer to supporters in the newly created 5th Assembly District, Bigelow made it apparently clear that he will challenge former Republican Assembly member Rico Oller for the seat.

The mailer asked voters to attend a fundraiser at Bill and Linda Smittcamp’s home in Clovis, a city not actually in the 5th Assembly District.

As far as fundraising goes, Bigelow has already dropped $50,000 into his new “Friends of Frank Bigelow for Assembly” campaign committee.

Following rumors and speculation that Republican Rep. Devin Nunes (CA-21) might challenge Feinstein, the poll gives Nunes all the cover he needs to bail from a Senate bid.

According to the poll, Feinstein leads Nunes 55% to 31% with a 4.4% margin of error, the second worst performance among the candidates polled by Public Policy. Fortunately, there’s a reason for that: he isn’t as well known outside of the Central Valley.

The same poll also polled for voter’s favorable or unfavorable opinion of each of the candidates. Of the 500 likely voters, 11% had a favorable view and 22% had an unfavorable view of the Valley Congressman.

For the Tulare native, those numbers are good and bad: on one hand, Nunes has tons of room for improvement, since only 33% of polling respondents actually held an opinion of him. It’s also bad since his unfavorable rating is double that of his favorability.

Also in the Public Policy Poll, two-time U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell led the pack of Republicans, garnering 38% to Feinstein’s 53%.

A Comparison of Republican candidates based on the going price of baseballs with their autograph.

So, exactly how well are the GOP candidates doing?

Rick Perry is having problems remembering the Department of Energy, Herman Cain can’t remember exactly which conflict is Libyan and Mitt Romney’s campaign is lowering expectations in Iowa while still leading a conservative pack.

But there’s more than just scientific poll numbers to tell you that Romney’s doing well: he’s kicking the living daylights out of his fellow Republican contenders on eBay.

As many Americans will do on occassion, I perused eBay looking at some of the more ridiculous items up for bid on the auction site and then typed in “Mitt Romney Autographed Baseball.”

I’m a big fan of baseball (Go Giants!) and realized that, on eBay, baseballs are relatively inexpensive medium for autographs (even though paper is even cheaper, people don’t sell random bits of paper) and autographed books like Fed Up or No Apology have different retail prices, making them unequal evaluators.

With that in mind, each candidate is ranked below by the average bid price (as of Nov. 15, 5:40 p.m.):

(CLICK ON THE FIGURE FOR FULL-SIZE)

On top of his lack of interest for the district, he’s entirely writing off the election, stating that even Fresno City council member Clint Olivier can’t beat out the four-term Democrat, and refused to endorse him.

Much of the issue comes down to the National Republican Campaign Committee’s lack of motivation in regards to the California 16th, namely the money race. Patterson projected that a fair fight against Costa would require a $2 million investment from the House Republican fundraising committee.

Patterson also cited that the new California 16th has a considerable Democratic edge. However, the number (15%) is considerably lower than that of the current California 20th (20%), where Jim Costa defeated Andy Vidak by 3% of the vote.

While Patterson may write off the race in November of 2011, by August of 2012, the race may reflect that of Costa’s incredibly close matchup with Hanford cherry farmer Andy Vidak, in which the NRCC and a number of other nationwide Political Action Committees pump lots of cash for last-minute vote getting

Those loose ends: former Mayor Jim Patterson and Olivier’s council colleague Larry Westerlund.

Westerlund and Patterson have an electoral history, and it isn’t friendly. Two years ago, Westerlund proved to be a spoiler for the Republican nomination for the California 19th district, causing then-State Senator Jeff Denham to beat out Patterson for the nomination, and the seat.

Patterson’s interest in the race has been lukewarm at best. Recently, the former mayor started a Christian radio station (KRIV 1680 AM) and with that, his chances at a third Congressional bid might not go over so well in the California 16th.

Westerlund also faces some difficult moves if he chooses to run for the Republican nod. Most notably, the Council member will have to increase his visibility with the electorate and run a campaign aimed at winning the nomination, unlike his 2010 bid which never got off the ground floor.

Analyzing the California 16th

The California 16th will be new terrain for Valley politicos. In 2010, Costa defeated Republican Andy Vidak by just over a 3% margin for the California 20th Congressional district. In the California 20th before the 2010 midterms, Democrats held a 20% voter registration edge to Republicans (50-31%).

But things are markedly different in the California 16th, with Democrats only holding a 15% edge over Republicans (48-33%) which bodes well for whichever Republican winds up with the nomination in June 2012.

Costa’s demise is a high priority for the National Republican Campaign Committee, as they prepare to gain momentum in the Central Valley by shutting out Democrats in the region. Part of the Republican’s help came from Dennis Cardoza, who announced his retirement recently. With Cardoza out of the running, the NRCC can focus its attention on the California 16th and the empty California 21st district.

According to one Republican, the NRCC has already begun scouting candidates to challenge candidates. The main characteristics being sought are fundraising prowess and broad base support. The source also noted that the NRCC is hoping to avoid the 11th hour rescue mission that it undertook for Andy Vidak’s upstart campaign in 2010.

With the NRCC already digging through the Valley’s Republican talent, it’s clear that a bloody Republican primary, similar to the 2010 California 19th primary, is out of the question. Fortunately for the four Republicans embarking on that tough election in June 2010, there Democratic opponent was so weak that the Republican nomination equated to a November victory.

Unfortunately for Olivier, Patterson or Westerlund, history won’t repeat itself. The winner of the 2012 Republican contest will face a Democrat with a political pulse. Whomever winds up with the nomination will need to have enough cash and support to overwhelm the four-term congressman.

Well, sort of.

Freshman City Council member Clint Olivier announced via Facebook that he is seriously considering a bid to challenge Costa in the newly drawn California 16th Congressional district in 2012.

“This area has been neglected for far too long. It’s time for someone with youth, drive and energy to be our voice in the nation’s capitol. My opponent has been in public office since disco was popular in the late 1970’s. I am seriously considering this race because we, as a community, can no longer sit by and watch our jobs and water disappear and our representative votes for every frivolous use or hard-earned taxpayer money proposed to him by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. He’s had over 30 years to do the job and he’s failed. It’s time for someone new,” Olivier said in the release.

Of note in Olivier’s quote is the use of “my opponent.” While he’s stated that his Congressional ambitions are still under consideration, the use of “my opponent” makes it clear that an announcement will come soon, once Olivier can get through the paperwork to form a campaign committee and organize his campaign structure.

Other speculated candidates are Council member Larry Westerlund and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson, who both ran against each other in the California 19th Congressional District in 2010 and lost to Rep. Jeff Denham.

Olivier was elected to the Fresno City Council in 2010 and has become a force to be reckoned with, as he became an important swing vote for many of the city’s most recent initiatives, including commercial trash privatization.

Today, President Obama signed an executive order which killed the freebies doled out by federal agencies as part of a plan to reduce bureaucratic waste. There’s one group of people that likely won’t be too happy because of it.

A Message from Swag Voters of America:

A new constituency is rising from the ashes of President Obama’s most recent executive order, which eliminated swag from federal agencies. They’re called swag voters, because they’re voting purely for the swag.

These are the people who collect their “I Voted” stickers throughout their electoral life, they hold onto old political yard signs and go to job fairs in search of swag from private companies and government agencies.

And today, President Obama wrote them off in 2012.

Don’t worry, though. A core faction of swag voters likely include the millions of unemployed Americans annoyed at the status quo of Washington, from House Republicans to Democrats in the White House.

Republican candidates, we want you to show some swag-ger. So get some yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons, hats and apparel to us because the Swag Voters are on the rise.

The Daily Nues is the comedic and whimsical spin on daily news

The ad title,”Congressman Jim Costa – Cost Ya” is likely the best play on Costa’s own name. Of course, there’s plenty more where that came from:

It’s September 29, 2010 and Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown are in the middle of a heated face-off for the Golden State Governorship.

Following one unspontaneous debate at UC Davis, Whitman is needing to volt her campaign’s rhetoric in an important area: the Central Valley. Their next debate would be held on October 3 at the Fresno State Satellite Student Union and focus on Latino issues (since the debate was sponsored by Univision and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce).

Then Gloria Allred and Whitman’s former illegal immigrant nanny entered the political firestorm like roadkill on the Autobahn, causing Whitman’s campaign to rollover after trying to avoid it.

It proved that Whitman’s excessive campaign spending could not fix the earth-sized hole caused by Nannygate.

Now two years later, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is in the middle of similarly troubling scandal, except it deals with sex, not immigration policy.

And with Allred cometh Chicagoan Sharon Bialek and a terrible tale of harassment.

During a press conference at the Friars Club in New York, detailed her accounts of the alleged sexual misconduct (via Politico):

The woman, Sharon Bialek, said she met Cain for dinner in the summer of 1997 after she had lost her job at a foundation affiliated with the National Restaurant Association. She told reporters at a press conference in New York that the incident took place in a car after a dinner meeting in Washington.

When she arrived in Washington to meet Cain, she found he had upgraded her hotel suite. Cain took her to dinner, then took her over to see the National Restaurant Association headquarters. But Cain stopped the car outside the group’s office and put his hand on her leg beneath her skirt, she said.

Bialek says she told Cain at the time: “What are you doing, you know I have a boyfriend, this isn’t what I came here for,” Bialek said. Cain said, “You want a job, don’t you?”

Of course, since Bialek recollected on the experience, creative punditry has quickly taken over:

Developed by Talking Points Memo's Benjy Sarlin

When speaking with Gannett, Nunes said “”Could it be me? Sure. There would have to be a lot of things to fall in place.”

But the ads themselves likely speak louder than Amaral’s words as Nunes spends surplus campaign cash to attack Feinstein. Granted, Nunes does have over $1 million in a campaign war chest.

For Nunes, winning the Republican nomination would be the easiest part of a 2012 contest against Feinstein. For Republicans, time is of the essence, with a Field Poll showing that voters are less inclined to re-elect Feinstein by a 44-41% margin.

Add her sinking poll numbers to Feinstein’s declaration that she had been “wiped out” of millions of dollars at the hands of Democratic treasurer Kinde Durkee, who was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of fraud.

Currently, one relatively big name has declared some intention of running for the Senate: birther queen Orly Taitz, who told The Daily Caller last week.