Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedOct 10, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT
To election day24 days
Simulations200,000

California 5th District

Currently held by a Republican · incumbent running · district redrawn for 2026

Democrat
Michael Masuda
4%
Republican
Tom McClintock
96%
ForecastLikely R
Projected margin
R+16.1
80% range
R+27.6 to R+4.6
Partisan lean
R+19.3
Tipping-point chance
0.07%
Uncertainty multiplier
1.80×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Fundamentals >99.9%
Polling average
no polls
Fundamentals
R+15.9
Blended
R+15.9
Similar-race shift
+0.5
Polling

No public polling of this matchup. The forecast rests on fundamentals plus the polling residuals of demographically and politically similar races — which is the normal case: most of the 435 House seats are never polled.

Fundamentals
Partisan lean
R+19.3
Elasticity
1.04
Incumbency
−1.9
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
−1.6
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
R+16.4
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
R+21.2
2020 margin
R+14.8
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+6.4
Votes cast, 2024
362,461

Presidential results reaggregated onto the 2026 district lines. This is where the seat’s partisan lean comes from, and it carries most of the forecast in a race nobody has polled.

Who lives hereCensus ACS
Population
599,254
Median age
50.4
Median household income
$85,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher
28%
White
59%
Black
3%
Hispanic
26%
Asian
8%

Used to find demographically similar districts, so a race with no polling can borrow the polling error of races that look like it.

Campaign fundraisingFEC filings to Invalid Date
CandidatePartyRaisedCash on hand
Thomas McclintockREP$929k$201k
Michael MasudaDEM$362k$89k

Receipts across the cycle, from FEC bulk filings. The model uses the ratio between the two sides rather than either total, and weights it lightly — money follows a competitive race at least as much as it causes one.

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