California's 5th Congressional District

California's 5th Congressional District

Incumbent

Tom McClintock

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Tom McClintock (R).

As of the 2020 Census, California representatives represented an average of 761,091 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 704,566 residents.

Elections

2024

See also: California's 5th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 5th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Tom McClintock defeated Mike Barkley in the general election for U.S. House California District 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom McClintock (R)	61.8	227,643
		Mike Barkley (D)	38.2	140,919

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 368,562
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Tom McClintock and Mike Barkley defeated Steve Wozniak in the primary for U.S. House California District 5 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom McClintock (R)	58.5	118,958
✔		Mike Barkley (D)	32.8	66,680
		Steve Wozniak (No party preference)	8.7	17,636

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 203,274
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jason Kassel (D)

2022

See also: California's 5th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Tom McClintock defeated Mike Barkley in the general election for U.S. House California District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom McClintock (R)	61.3	173,524
		Mike Barkley (D)	38.7	109,506

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 283,030
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 5

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 5 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom McClintock (R)	45.5	87,010
✔		Mike Barkley (D)	33.6	64,285
		Nathan Magsig (R)	13.2	25,299
		Steve Wozniak (Independent)	3.2	6,045
		David Main (R)	3.1	5,927
		Kelsten Obert (R)	1.5	2,864

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 191,430
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jolene Daly (R)
• John Estrada (R)

2020

See also: California's 5th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Mike Thompson defeated Scott Giblin in the general election for U.S. House California District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Thompson (D)	76.1	271,233
		Scott Giblin (R)	23.9	85,227

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 356,460
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Mike Thompson and Scott Giblin defeated John Wesley Tyler and Jason Kishineff in the primary for U.S. House California District 5 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Thompson (D)	67.5	146,980
✔		Scott Giblin (R)	20.2	43,987
		John Wesley Tyler (D)	9.5	20,725
		Jason Kishineff (D)	2.7	5,928

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 217,620
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: California's 5th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Mike Thompson defeated Anthony Mills in the general election for U.S. House California District 5 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Thompson (D)	78.9	205,860
	Submit photo	Anthony Mills (Independent)	21.1	55,158

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 261,018
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 5

Incumbent Mike Thompson and Anthony Mills defeated Nils Palsson and Jason Kishineff in the primary for U.S. House California District 5 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Thompson (D)	79.3	121,428
✔	Submit photo	Anthony Mills (Independent)	8.8	13,538
		Nils Palsson (Independent)	8.3	12,652
		Jason Kishineff (G)	3.6	5,458

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 153,076
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Doug Van Raam (R)

2016

See also: California's 5th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Mike Thompson (D) defeated Carlos Santamaria (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Thompson and Santamaria defeated Nils Palsson (D) and Alex Poling (D) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Thompson Incumbent	76.9%	224,526
	Republican	Carlos Santamaria	23.1%	67,565
Total Votes				292,091
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 5 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Thompson Incumbent	65.7%	124,634
	Republican	Carlos Santamaria	19.2%	36,430
	Democratic	Nils Palsson	12.5%	23,639
	Democratic	Alex Poling	2.6%	4,998
Total Votes				189,701
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 5th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Mike Thompson (D) defeated James Hinton (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Thompson Incumbent	75.7%	129,613
	Independent	James Hinton	24.3%	41,535
Total Votes				171,148
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 5th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. The incumbent from the 1st District, Mike Thompson, won the election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Thompson Incumbent	74.5%	202,872
	Republican	Randy Loftin	25.5%	69,545
Total Votes				272,417
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Doris Matsui won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Paul Smith (R), Gerald Allen Frink (Peace and Freedom) and Tony Lacy (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui incumbent	72%	124,220
	Republican	Paul Smith	25.3%	43,577
	Peace and Freedom	Gerald Allen Frink	2.7%	4,594
	Write-in	Tony Lacy	0%	19
Total Votes				172,410

2008
On November 4, 2008, Doris Matsui won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Paul Smith (R), L. R. Roberts (Peace and Freedom) and David Lynch (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui incumbent	74.3%	164,242
	Republican	Paul Smith	20.8%	46,002
	Peace and Freedom	L. R. Roberts	4.9%	10,731
	Write-in	David Lynch	0.1%	180
Total Votes				221,155

2006
On November 7, 2006, Doris Matsui won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Claire Yan (R), Jeff Kravitz (G) and John Reiger (Peace and Freedom) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui incumbent	70.8%	105,676
	Republican	Claire Yan	23.5%	35,106
	Green	Jeff Kravitz	4.3%	6,466
	Peace and Freedom	John Reiger	1.4%	2,018
Total Votes				149,266

2005 special
On March 8, 2005, Doris Matsui won election to the United States House. She defeated 12 candidates in the special general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 Special election, 2005
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui	68.2%	56,175
	Democratic	Julie Padilla	8.7%	7,158
	Republican	John Thomas Flynn	8%	6,559
	Republican	Serge A. Chernay	4.5%	3,742
	Republican	Michael O'Brien	3.1%	2,591
	Republican	Shane Singh	2.1%	1,753
	Republican	Bruce Robert Stevens	1.4%	1,124
	Green	Pat Driscoll	1.2%	976
	Independent	Leonard Padilla	1.1%	916
	Democratic	Charles "Carlos" Pineda, Jr.	0.8%	659
	Libertarian	Gale Morgan	0.5%	451
	Peace and Freedom	John C. Reiger	0.3%	286
	Write-in	Lara Shapiro	0%	6
Total Votes				82,396
Source: Results via California State Board of Elections

2004
On November 2, 2004, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Dugas (R), Pat Driscoll (G) and John Reiger (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	71.4%	138,004
	Republican	Mike Dugas	23.3%	45,120
	Green	Pat Driscoll	3.4%	6,593
	Peace and Freedom	John Reiger	1.9%	3,670
Total Votes				193,387

2002
On November 5, 2002, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Richard Frankhuizen (R) and Timothy Roloff (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	70.5%	92,726
	Republican	Richard Frankhuizen	26.4%	34,749
	Libertarian	Timothy Roloff	3.1%	4,103
Total Votes				131,578

2000
On November 7, 2000, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Kenneth Payne (R), Ken Adams (G), Cullene Lang (L) and Charles Kersey (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	68.7%	147,025
	Republican	Kenneth Payne	26.1%	55,945
	Green	Ken Adams	2.9%	6,195
	Libertarian	Cullene Lang	1.4%	2,919
	Natural Law	Charles Kersey	0.9%	1,975
Total Votes				214,059

1998
On November 3, 1998, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Dinsmore (R) and Douglas Arthur Tuma (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	71.9%	130,715
	Republican	Robert Dinsmore	26%	47,307
	Libertarian	Douglas Arthur Tuma	2.1%	3,746
Total Votes				181,768

1996
On November 5, 1996, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Dinsmore (R), Joseph Miller (L), Gordon Mors (American Independent) and Charles Kersey (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	70.4%	142,618
	Republican	Robert Dinsmore	26.1%	52,940
	Libertarian	Joseph Miller	1.3%	2,548
	American Independent	Gordon Mors	1.1%	2,231
	Natural Law	Charles Kersey	1%	2,123
Total Votes				202,460

1994
On November 8, 1994, Robert Matsui won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Dinsmore (R) and Gordon Mors (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui incumbent	68.5%	125,042
	Republican	Robert Dinsmore	29%	52,905
	American Independent	Gordon Mors	2.5%	4,649
Total Votes				182,596

1992
On November 3, 1992, Robert Matsui won election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Dinsmore (R), Gordon Mors (American Independent), Chris Rufer (L) and Tian Harter (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert Matsui	68.6%	158,250
	Republican	Robert Dinsmore	25.5%	58,698
	American Independent	Gordon Mors	2.1%	4,745
	Libertarian	Chris Rufer	2%	4,547
	Green	Tian Harter	1.9%	4,316
	N/A	Write-in	0%	4
Total Votes				230,560

1990
On November 6, 1990, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Alan Nichols (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 5 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	77.2%	120,633
	Republican	Alan Nichols	22.8%	35,671
Total Votes				156,304

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2020 census

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission voted 14-0 in favor of a new congressional district map on December 20, 2021, and delivered those maps to the secretary of state on December 27, 2021. California was apportioned 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, a net loss of one seat compared to apportionment after the 2010 census. This map took effect for California's 2022 congressional elections.

How does redistricting in California work? In California, a non-politician commission draws both congressional and state legislative district lines. Established in 2008 by ballot initiative, the commission comprises 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four belonging to neither party. A panel of state auditors selects the pool of nominees from which the commissioners are appointed. This pool comprises 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 belonging to neither party. The majority and minority leaders of both chambers of the state legislature may each remove two members from each of the aforementioned groups. The first eight commission members are selected at random from the remaining nominees. These first eight comprise three Democrats, three Republicans, and two belonging to neither party. The first eight commissioners appoint the remaining six, which must include two Democrats, two Republicans, and two belonging to neither party.

Commissioners must meet the following requirements in order to serve:

1. Members must have voted in at least two of the last three statewide elections.
2. Members cannot have switched party affiliation for at least five years.
3. "Neither commissioners nor immediate family may have been, within 10 years of appointment, a candidate for federal or state office or member of a party central committee; an officer, employee, or paid consultant to a federal or state candidate or party; a registered lobbyist or paid legislative staff; or a donor of more than $2,000 to an elected candidate."
4. Members cannot be "staff, consultants or contractors for state or federal government" while serving as commissioners. The same prohibition applies to the family of commission members.

In order to approve a redistricting plan, nine of the commission's 14 members must vote for it. These nine must include three Democrats, three Republicans, and three belonging to neither party. Maps drawn by the commission may be overturned by public referendum. In the event that a map is overturned by the public, the California Supreme Court must appoint a group to draw a new map.

The California Constitution requires that districts be contiguous. Further, the state constitution mandates that "to the extent possible, [districts] must ... preserve the geographic integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest." Districts must also "encourage compactness." State Senate and Assembly districts should be nested within each other where possible.

California District 5
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 5
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 5th Congressional District of California after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2010 census

In 2011, the California State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 5th the 149th most Republican district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 5th the 157th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 55.0%-42.7%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 5th the 155th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 42.7% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 55.0%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 5th Congressional District the 57th most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.83. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.83 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 5th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 5th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 5th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 5th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 5

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Lateefah Simon (D)

District 13

Adam Gray (D)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Sam Liccardo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

George Whitesides (D)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Luz Rivas (D)

District 30

Laura Friedman (D)

District 31

Gil Cisneros (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Derek Tran (D)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Dave Min (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (45)

Republican Party (9)