BY MICHAEL MASUDA

Special to the Journal

For far too long, our communities have struggled with rising costs of housing, healthcare, fire insurance, electricity, water, food, and everyday goods. We are facing fewer jobs, a multi-decade opioid epidemic, worsening fire seasons, global geopolitical tensions, and a federal government that has lost the trust of the people.

Since 2009, California’s 5th Congressional District has been represented by Congressman Tom McClintock with nothing to show for it. He fails to host town halls or listen to the challenges we are facing. He has voted to strip Medi-Cal and food assistance from his own constituents, given the ultra-wealthy billions of dollars in tax breaks, ripped families apart through senseless attacks on our immigrant neighbors paid for by American taxpayers, and sits idly by as President Trump’s tariff-fueled frenzy drives our economy off a cliff. Clearly, Congressman McClintock’s “seat-filler” strategy to representation has not been effective. With the new 5th District growing from 8 counties to 12, it’s time for someone who will show up, listen, and go to work for the people of our communities. My name is Michael Masuda, and I am running to be your next Congressman.

My family and I moved to Amador County on the northern end of the district when I was 10 to be closer to my widowed grandma. I played basketball and baseball for Amador High School, which took me across the Sierra Nevada and the San Joaquin Valley, including a trip to play at Arco Arena. After graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in electrical engineering, my wife and I moved to the Washington, DC area. I worked on missile systems and drone defense to protect our troops and our country. In 2021, I decided to use my science and engineering skills to serve my country as a U.S. diplomat with the State Department focused on building partnerships with countries around the world.

I am the son of two Air Force veterans, the grandson of German and Polish American farmers in Northern Wisconsin, and the grandson of Japanese Americans from the Bay Area who were forcibly relocated and interned during World War II. I grew up living on a well and a septic tank, clearing brush around my grandma’s five acre plot every spring and summer, and learning to drive on the winding back roads of Amador County. I was raised on very simple values - look out for your neighbor, treat people with respect, work hard, be humble, and remember where you came from. I carry these values with me to this day.

The communities in District 5 are not career stopovers like the big cities in California. They are places where you plant roots. Whether you’re in the valley, the foothills, the mountains, or the desert, we choose to live here, and we’re fiercely proud of the places we call home.

However, we are not immune to the challenges America faces. Housing and healthcare costs continue to rise. Main streets and small towns are trying to keep their spark alight. Farmers are struggling to keep their family legacy going. Our infrastructure is aging. A generation of young people are losing hope they will one day own a home or have kids. Seniors fear their retirement may not go as far as they need. Households are choosing whether to buy absurdly expensive fire insurance or risk going without.

These challenges are not left versus right. A fire that tears through a town doesn’t avoid Republican houses, and Democrats don’t get a special discount on their hospital bills. The only way we fix what’s in front of us is by remembering just how much we share and start working together.

If you are tired of your absent Congressman, sick of politicians dividing us for their own gain, feel like neither party represents you, think your vote doesn’t matter, or looking for a Congressman who will work as hard as you do, come talk to me. I’m willing to bet there are many issues that we agree on and ways we can work together to improve our communities.

I have spent my adult life watching the erosion of the America we love because of fear, division, greed, neglect, and ineffectiveness. Now, I’m stepping forward and fighting for a brighter future for all of us.