The increasingly bitter primary race between Doug Ose and Tom McClintock is about to get a major infusion of cash, but it won’t be coming from either campaign.

The Club for Growth Political Action Committee, an organization that advocates low taxes and limited federal government, is collecting money from supporters for McClintock’s run, a spokesperson for the group said. So far $80,000 has been bundled specifically for the District 4 primary, and that is expected to grow in the remaining six weeks before the June 3 election.

As a registered PAC, the Club for Growth can spend its own money on McClintock’s behalf, though it is prohibited from coordinating its efforts with the McClintock campaign. Nachama Soloveichik, a spokeswoman for the group, said the organization had not made a final decision on how much it was going to invest in the District 4 race but that it was planning on being involved.

With a large number of the voters in the Roseville-area district expected to vote early, it is likely that the club would engage in the race in the next several weeks, with a heavy distribution of mail throughout the district and cable television advertising.

David Wasserman, a nonpartisan analyst for the Cook Political Report, said he expected the club for Growth to spend however much it needed to in order to help McClintock win.“The Club will spend what it takes to reach saturation for Tom McClintock,” he said.

The McClintock campaign is facing a significant cash disadvantage in its battle against Ose, who has already contributed $850,000 of his own personal fortune to his campaign. Newly-released first quarter fundraising reports show McClintock with $126,000 in cash on hand, a fraction of Ose’s $756,000.

McClintock, a veteran state legislator who is in his first run for the U.S. House, is something of an iconic figure in the world of California politics, taking hard right stances on everything from earmarks to illegal immigration. Shortly after he entered the race in March, the club endorsed McClintock in statement applauding him for his conservative positions.

“Over his many years in California politics, Tom McClintock has proven himself to be an unwavering economic conservative, who can be counted on to fight for taxpayers regardless of the opposition,” said Club for Growth executive director David Keating, adding that “Tom McClintock has the potential to be a star in Congress.”

But the club’s interest in the race extends beyond simply backing McClintock. In recent weeks the group has openly questioned Ose’s commitment to fiscal conservatism. In its endorsement of McClintock, the Club said took aim at Ose, a former Congressman, for his votes in support of McCain-Feingold and the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Bill and for voting against eliminating several pork barrel projects.

“This is one of those races that’s a perfect fit for the Club for Growth,” said Matt Rexroad, a Republican consultant in California. “They love Tom McClintock and don’t like Doug Ose.”

The Club for Growth’s hostility toward Ose has a history. In 2004 when Ose’s sister, Mary Ose, was running for the District 3 seat her brother was stepping down from, the club backed rival Republican candidate Rico Oller and took direct aim at Mary Ose. At the time, she, like her brother, was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that is seen as the centrist counter to the club. In the end, the club contributed more than $125,000 to Oller’s campaign and the Republican Main Street Partnership invested in a $150,000 advertising campaign on Ose’s behalf.

Early in this year’s campaign, when Oller appeared to be Doug Ose’s main competitor, the club threw its support behind Oller before he dropped out.

When asked if the Club for Growth was facing off against Ose in a grudge match, Soloveichik, the spokeswoman, demurred. “There’s no grudge match at all,” she said.

Doug Elmets, a spokesman for Doug Ose, said the club’s support of McClintock had less to do with an animus towards the Ose family than with a general sense that McClintock was more ideologically in line with the club. “They want to elect someone who is the whole loaf or nothing at all,” he said.

Elmets also suggested that, after the Club for Growth’s investment in the race, the voters in the district would be turned off.

“The Club for Growth and Tom McClintock are out of touch in this district and the proof will be in the pudding, and that will be on Election Day,” he said.