CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MASUDA VISITS EASTSIDE

Published in the March 28, 2026 edition.

Michael Masuda, Democratic challenger in the newly revamped 5th Congressional district, made three stops on the Eastside last weekend. 

The Sheet caught him at the Bishop Senior Center on Sunday. He drew a decent crowd of approximately 60. 

Masuda grew up in Amador County, graduated from Amador High School in 2007, and then went on to study electrical engineering at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. 

He met his wife of ten years during his college years. They have two children.  

Masuda has spent most of his working career in Washington, D.C. 

From his website: “Michael worked as an engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he developed his appreciation for the role that technology plays in keeping American soldiers safe and ensuring the U.S. military remains the most capable in the world.  

In 2021, he was selected for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship and joined the U.S. Department of State as a civil servant.” 

He departed Washington in 2025 following President Trump’s election. 

Redistricting has created a sprawling new district which encompasses all or parts of 12 counties, including all of Inyo and Mono. The district runs as far east as Modesto (where Masuda now lives) and to the outskirts of Merced and Fresno. 

The incumbent, Tom McClintock, is a Republican who has been serving in Congress since 2009. 

Ballotpedia lists seven candidates in the field. Besides McClintock and Masuda, there are four other Democrats (Mike Barkley, Paul Danborn, Angelina Sigala and Kate Sills) and one Republican (Jason Weland). 

Barkley was defeated in the last election (in the old District 5) by McClintock by a 62%-38% margin. 

But Barkley is 79-years old. Masuda, whose paternal grandparents spent World War II at Topaz Internment Camp (he visited Manzanar on his drive north to Bishop), is less than half his age. 

Masuda’s parents are both Air Force veterans. 

Overall, Masuda proved fairly adept on the stump. And he certainly knows his district and audience. 

25% of District 5 is over 65 years of age. And Masuda is well aware that Medicare cuts included in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill are threatening the solvency of rural hospitals like Northern and Southern Inyo.

He gained his best reaction of the afternoon by reciting the five planks of the recently formed Take-BAC-Congress group, which he joined and which boasts 75 signatories. 

The five planks include term limits, a five-year moratorium on lobbying once one leaves office, no stock trading while in office, a code of judicial ethics for the Supreme Court and a vow to overturn the Citizens United ruling and get unlimited corporate money out of politics. 

While Masuda made a point of talking about how he’s sick of the partisan griping in Washington, he couldn’t help taking a few potshots at McClintock, whom he said hasn’t held a single Town Hall meeting since 2017 and “he sure ain’t showing up here.” 

Fun Fact: Masuda’s campaign manager Leah Waters graduated in his same high school class.