Brown was as competitive as he was because a lot of RINOs preferred him to McClintock, especially Ah-nold. They wanted Doug Ose to get the nomination. Barring redistricting, this should be the only close race he runs. This district was not McClintock’s residence, which was another problem for him, too (of course, Ose carpetbagged it, too, but not far away, McClintock is from Southern CA).
McClintock will need to make roots there. Ride on floats on parade days, etc.
Doolittle was a big time porker as well, and McClintock is against pork barrel, so local RINOs will always be gunning for his head.
One race where RINO malcontents didn’t cost us. They took down Bill Sali, Tim Walberg, Andy Harris, and to some extent Marilyn Musgrave (Jim Johnson, the Republican who held the seat from 1973-1981, endorsed her Dem opponent Markey).