Republican Tom McClintock announces that he will run in the newly re-drawn 5th California Congressional District. The district is now set to cover parts of Modesto and Fresno along with the western Sierra Nevada, south of his current seat. This new district takes over part of the district of former Representative Devin Nunes, combining the other part of McClintock's current district to create the new boundaries.
This part of the notoriously blue state runs strongly Republican however with voters who backed former President Donald Trump in 2020 with a 12% margin of victory, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Nunes resigned at the end of 2021 to take a position to head former President Donald Trump's media venture. But before exiting office, he backed McClintock by telling the Washington Examiner, “Tom has been a champion for the conservative movement for many years. He’s popular enough to run successfully anywhere in California, but I hope he continues to represent part of the San Joaquin Valley. He has my complete support.”