The Winner

If you live in California’s 5th Congressional District, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) will keep representing you after winning a 10th term by about 13 points. That’s down from his 24-point win in 2024, which was under the district’s old lines. McClintock had 56.4% of the vote, or 122,601 votes, to 43.6%, or 94,932 votes, for Democrat Michael Masuda, a margin of 27,669 votes. ​

With about 71% of the expected vote counted, NBC News projected McClintock the winner. In 2024, he beat Democrat Mike Barkley 61.8% to 38.2%.

The Race

Masuda is an engineer who grew up in Amador County. In the June 2 top-two primary, McClintock won 61.3% of the vote, and Masuda finished second with 24.3%, ahead of two other Democrats.

The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the seat Solid Republican, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican, according to Ballotpedia.

Proposition 50 redrew the district, which now stretches along the Nevada border from Alpine County to Inyo County. It includes all of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono and Tuolumne counties, plus parts of El Dorado, Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, including northern Fresno and part of Clovis.

About 772,800 people live in the district, which is 63.1% white, 27.4% Hispanic, 6.1% Asian and 2.5% Black. The median household income is about $93,000, the median age is 41.4, and 31.5% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Unemployment is 6%, and 10.1% of residents live below the poverty line.

What’s Next

McClintock’s new term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, and Republicans will be in the minority after Democrats won control of the House. On election night, he said the results showed Republicans “need to return to our constitutional roots,” according to GV Wire.

McClintock has made wildfire prevention a focus. He sponsored legislation to expand forest-management projects and require the Forest Service to start suppressing wildfires within 24 hours of finding them.

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