Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) will look to fill the seat of a termed-out neighbor in 2012, by running for the 1st State Senate District seat.

Niello, who is termed out of the Assembly in 2010, filed a statement of intent to run for that seat this week with the California Secretary of State's office.

Well known for a string of auto dealerships he partially owns in the Sacramento area, Niello has also served as vice chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.

He'd be seeking a seat vacated by termed-out State Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), who lives in the same suburban Sacramento neighborhood as Niello.

According to the Secretary of State's Web site, Niello has yet to file paperwork to begin raising money for that seat.

However, as of Oct. 18 he still had about $387,383.85 in cash on hand left over from his successful re-election campaign to the 5th Assembly District seat last month.

Niello is the first person to file a statement of intent to run in Cox's seat, which takes in much of Sacramento's eastern suburbs and several rural mountain and foothill counties along California's eastern border.

The district's boundaries will be redrawn before the 2012 election, however. Cox won re-election with 62 percent of the vote on Nov. 4.