The seven declared candidates for the 5th Congressional District, which includes Modesto, will find the varied geography of the newly formed district challenging.
The Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal dismissed Republican challenges to recent gerrymandering, which resulted in new districts, including the sprawling 5th.
The new 5th District combines two districts — which were markedly Republican — as a tradeoff so Democratic lawmakers could create other districts which favor Democrats. Each district has to have a population of about 750,000.
The current list of declared Democratic candidates are Michael Masuda (Riverbank), Michael Barkley (Manteca), Kate Sills (Sonora), Angelina Sigala (Modesto)), and Tom Danbom (Turlock).
Republicans include Tom McClintock (El Dorado Hills), and Jason Weland (Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County). McClintock beat Barkley with 61% of the vote in the 2024 District 3 race. Much of the new 5th was in the old 3rd.
Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, a Republican Congressman whose current district has been chopped up into parts of six new districts, has expressed interest in the new 5th. He could pose a serious challenge to McClintock if only because McClintock has so often been an absentee representative. Kiley also has money.
Because the top two vote getters go on to the general election, it is possible that there would be no Democrat in the general election if the Democratic vote is split among the many contenders.
There is little in common among the residents of the new district. Eastern Stanislaus County and those eastern parts of the other counties to the south are agricultural. Those communities along Highway 49 from Jackson to Mariposa share the same mixed economies as other foothill residents, with many dependent on tourism.
Communities on the east side of the Sierra have some focus on recreation. Mammoth, for example, has a permanent resident base of about 7,000 but may see as many as 30,000 day-tripping skiers and snow boarders on any given winter weekend.
The candidates face campaigning in a district which runs from the northern border of Amador County, at the Kit Carson Pass, to Death Valley on the south, an as-the-crow-flies distance of about 175 miles. East to west, it drapes over the Sierras, and is about 100 miles from the Nevada Border to the west side of Modesto.
The new district splits Stanislaus County on a line which runs north and south, roughly along Highway 99, with a carve out for Ceres. Modesto is the most vote-rich area in the district.
One problem for the campaigners is that Highway 88 from Jackson to the Nevada border is the only all-weather highway over the Sierras in the north. In the south, the all-weather crossing goes east from Bakersfield through Mojave.
The geography includes Mt. Whitney — at an elevation of 14,505 feet above sea level — it is the highest peak in the contiguous United States, as well as Death Valley, which at 287 feet below sea level is the lowest point in North America.
At about 760,000, the population of the 5th District is more than the total population of Wyoming. It looks like it will take lots of money for trains, planes and automobiles for 5th District hopefuls who hope to canvass the sprawling district. There is a big disparity in fund raising efforts so far.
As might be expected, McClintock is far ahead of the Democratic candidates. Among those hopefuls, Masuda is way ahead of the other four. As of the end of last year, McClintock had raised $513,180, just short of five times more than the leading Democrat, Michael Masuda, who had raised $109, 679. Katelyn Sills was the next best with $14,060. Michael Barkley raised $700 and Angelina Sigala and Paul Denbom raised $0.0, as recorded by the Federal Election Commission. Weland did not report any donations.
On the other hand, and perhaps of greatest concern to McClintock, the most recent financial reports with the Federal Election Commission, which covers through the end of last year, show that Kiley has over $2 million in the bank.
Masuda has begun holding “town halls”. McClintock has been criticized for holding only virtual “town halls” since 2017. His long absences from the district as well as his support of the current president have resulted in mounting protests around and near his downtown Modesto office.
Thanks for an interesting and informative article. Let’s hope the worst case scenario doesn’t happen- two Republicans getting the most votes in the primary!
Gah! The 5th District is a geographic Frankenstein. McClintock has to go. I hope Kiley chooses another district. I’m supporting Masuda.
There is no timeline in which McClintock should retain his seat. He is a waste. He can take his similarly poor excuse staff with him. The public should never tolerate people like them in office.
Perhaps the mountain communities that traditionally favored Republicans will have buyers remorse when international tourists vacation in other parts of the world. I doubt American travellers will pick up the slack now that hotel prices have gone through the roof.
I wonder though how much McClintock’s betrayal of the farmers and his abject support of the pedophile president will impair his chances. 🤔
The Reaganite conservative Tom McClintock of 20+ years ago would be very, very disappointed, if not utterly appalled, with silent MAGA Tom McClintock, who doesn’t even use pastel shades in his rhetoric.
A politician who fears meeting his constituents in person is unfit for public service.
It’s time for him to retire, recalibrate, and perhaps renew his dedication to the nation’s constitutional heritage as it staggers thorugh a 21st Century that has been marred by catastrophes.
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