Bill Hedrick very nearly defeated Ken Calvert in 2008, and he has returned to challenge him in 2010 in a district comprised of parts of Orange and Riverside Counties in California. Barack Obama won this district two years ago, and Calvert had reason to take this challenge more seriously. So he’s come upon a unique idea: get taxpayers to pay for his promotion and advertising.

The issue concerns “franked” mail. Rules ban members of Congress from sending taxpayer-funded mail to constituents in the 90-day period before an election. Mass mailings of 500 or more copies fall under the ban. Calvert said back in August that he would continue to send the mail, and use a trick to get around the requirements.

Many lawmakers have adopted the practice of sending out so-called “499s” in the pre-election periods. This involves sending out many different variations of a mailer based on the same template in quantities of 499. Since the messages are different, they are considered different mailers, though members can reach many more people in their home districts.

Calvert spokeswoman Rebecca Rudman said the congressman has no intention of halting the practice.

“Rep. Calvert will continue to communicate his opposition to Democrat bailouts, reckless spending, amnesty and massive debt, especially while Americans are out of work and struggling to get by,” Rudman said.

Before the June primary, Calvert sent more than 200 variations of a mailer in quantities of 499 apiece, and his office is planning to do the same thing in the coming months, Rudman said.

So they’re fully admitting to this, using taxpayer resources to send out 100,000 pieces of mail. And clearly they’re engaging in it, because Hedrick just obtained a copy of one of the mailers – which was sent to his home.

Hilariously, the mailer, addressed to Hedrick’s daughter Elizabeth, attacks “wasteful spending” in the stimulus package. It is estimated that Calvert has spent $1.4 million dollars of taxpayer money since 1996 on these types of franked mailings.

In a press release, Hedrick responded. “I think if anything has become a symbol of Washington’s wasteful spending, it’s Congressman Ken Calvert. While people struggle to find work in Riverside and Orange counties, our Congressman sticks us with the bill and spends our money on publicity materials so he can stay in Washington. The Wall Street bailout he voted for does not extend to his campaign.”

This is just one of the under-the-radar innovations used by incumbents to gain advantage in their re-election campaigns. In a sense, we’re all paying for Ken Calvert’s effort at another term.