There's no doubt that Tracy Republican Richard Pombo is popular with farmers and ranchers on the Valley's west side, and others in the GOP feel he's just the kind of firebrand the region needs right now in Washington D.C.

Some newspaper editorial boards, however, don't share that view. Chief among them is arguably the state's leading newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, which today blasted a potential Pombo return in a scathing editorial. Pombo is hoping to replace retiring Rep. George Radanovich in the 19th Congressional District.

"Endorsement season hasn't started yet, but we don't need a campaign to know that Pombo would not contribute anything useful if he rejoined the House of Representatives," The Times wrote in its editorial.

It called Pombo "rabidly anti-environment, ethically challenged, overly eager to hand public resources to public corporations..." It then asks sarcastically: "Could Pombo have been bitten by a marmot as a child?"

The Stockton Record pointed out in its own editorial that when Pombo was elected to the 11th District in 1992, he said he'd serve only three terms. (He ended up serving seven terms, and now is seeking a return after a 2006 defeat.)

It isn't often that congressional seats come open, and when they do it is big news. When Radanovich announced he wouldn't seek re-election as his wife battles cancer, that in itself garnered news. State Sen. Jeff Denham and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson immediately said they would seek the seat.

Fresno City Council President Larry Westerlund today announced he would, too.

But it was Pombo's entry into the race that has caught the attention of the political cognoscenti -- and now even the Los Angeles Times, which rarely would find the time to weigh in on a Valley congressional race.