( Matt Ortega )

Four years after his ouster by the voters of California’s 11th Congressional District, Richard Pombo is packing up his tractor and heading further east to seek another seat in Congress.

George Radanovich announced his retirement in 2009 and has already backed another candidate in this safe Republican district but Pombo, a former seven-termer and committee chair, could make this a tough primary.

Pombo will make the announcement tomorrow, sources tell Hotline OnCall, after speaking with several incumbent members of Congress and supporters back home. He has reached out to donors in recent days, as well as to Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R) and Devin Nunes (R), two incumbents who hold neighboring districts.

Pombo will not have the contest to himself. State Sen. Jeff Denham (R) already has Radanovich’s backing, and his district overlaps part of Radanovich’s, giving Denham what could be an early lead in name recognition.

Jeff Denham may want to take some plays out of the 2006 campaign playbook and hit Pombo with the dirt that buried him in his first attempt for an eighth term.

One thing that is for certain is that whoever wins the Republican primary will easily walk into Congress.  A Democrat hasn’t carried this district since Dianne Feinstein’s re-elect in 2000 by less than three points.

Update Talking Points Memo dusted off the old shovel with Richard Pombo’s name engraved on it for his latest go-around in politics. (Complete with the best photo from the campaign.)

Fun fact: Pombo held his 2006 “victory party” at a restaurant called The Waterloo. His campaign kickoff rally that year turned out zero people. None. Nothing says “grassroots excitement” like empty seats and silence.

The status of his race in 2006 shifted from safe Republican all the way to “leaning Democratic takeover” over the course of about six or seven months. He enjoyed visits from John Boehner, then-Majority Leader, and both top occupants in the White House, and still lost.

Tags: CA-19, Richard Pombo