Michael Masuda
Candidate for U.S. Representative, Congressional District 5
Michael Masuda grew up in Amador County, California. He went to Sutter Creek Elementary. Then came Ione Junior High. He finished at Amador High School. His degree is from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He studied electrical engineering there. He then worked as an engineer. His employer was the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The job was in the Washington, D.C. area. His campaign says he helped develop technologies meant to protect U.S. troops. In 2021, he was selected for the Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) runs it. He then served as a civil servant at the U.S. Department of State. He served there during the Biden administration. Masuda moved back to Amador County with his family. He did so to launch his House run. He is running in California's 5th Congressional District. He runs as a Democrat in the 2026 election. He has not held elected office before. His campaign presents him as 'an engineer, not a politician.' It stresses an engineering approach to problem-solving. He advanced from the June 2026 primary. He is now on the November 2026 general election ballot. Home: Amador County, California, in the Sutter Creek/Ione area. Occupation: engineer. He is a candidate for Congress. Past jobs: the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Also the U.S. Department of State. Prior office: none. This is his first run for elected office.
On the issues
- Economy & Jobs
Supports building jobs through wildfire-resilience work (fuels reduction, forest management, home hardening), expanding apprenticeships tied to local industries, improving small-business access to capital, investing in rural infrastructure, and strengthening local agriculture.
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Broadly emphasizes 'making life more affordable for working people' as a campaign priority, without a detailed federal tax or spending platform.
Source → - Health & Health Care
Supports reducing prescription drug and out-of-pocket costs, protecting Medicare and Medi-Cal, stabilizing rural hospitals and clinics, expanding telehealth, and increasing mental health and addiction care access.
Source → - Immigration & Border
Supports securing the border with modern enforcement technology, expanding legal immigration pathways and reducing backlogs, creating legal pathways for agricultural labor, and providing an earned, lawful path forward with background checks for some undocumented immigrants.
Source → - Reproductive & Social Issues
On LGBTQ-related issues, supports enforcing civil rights laws in schools, workplaces and public spaces, addressing LGBTQ youth homelessness and mental health needs, and protecting access to medically appropriate care; no specific abortion/reproductive-rights position found.
Source → - Education & Schools
Supports increased special education investment, smaller class sizes, addressing rural teacher shortages, expanding Career and Technical Education, strengthening Title I and IDEA funding, and expanding school-based mental health services; no specific higher-education/student-debt position found.
Source → - Environment, Energy & Climate
Focuses on wildfire risk reduction through science-based forest thinning and prescribed fire, defensible space and home-hardening programs, grid hardening to reduce power-line ignition risk, and locally driven energy solutions including biomass.
Source → - Foreign Policy & Defense
Supports investment in diplomacy and development to reduce conflict risk, reinforcing NATO and Indo-Pacific partnerships, protecting agriculture through trade expansion, investing in R&D for critical technologies, and improving VA services and mental health support for veterans.
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Emphasizes reducing the influence of large corporate donors in politics, running his campaign on grassroots small-dollar support rather than corporate PAC money.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.