Tom McClintock (R) is currently serving at the U.S. Representative for California’s 5th Congressional District, which was previously the 4th Congressional District before the redistricting last year.
McClintock is hoping to hold his position as a representative of a large part of Madera County. He believes that California is ready for a more Republican concentration in California.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “But I’m guardedly optimistic that the Gavinmander is not going to do as well for Gavin as he thought. For a state that’s been governed unchallenged by the Democrats for over two decades, that’s a very profound statement. And I think that may translate into a better-than-average year for Republicans in California.”
He thinks people are beginning to ask some fundamental questions like, why have things gotten so bad in California? Why are people leaving? Why are neighbors now leaving California in droves?
“I saw an interesting statistic the other day,” he said. “During the Dust Bowl, the flight of Oklahomans to California because of the Dust Bowl was huge. Today, four times as many Californians are moving to Oklahoma as Oklahomans are moving to California. So, you have a reverse exodus now of Californians fleeing not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.
“I’ve said for years, California Republicans are still winning the vote. The problem is they are now voting with their feet and leaving. The state, therefore, becomes more and more Democrat, therefore more and more socialist,” he said.
When asked what his platform is, he replied, “I can answer in one word. Freedom.”
He quoted words from a speech delivered in 1858 by Abraham Lincoln, which he labeled the “House Divided” speech.
“‘A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved, I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It must become all one thing or all the other.’”
McClintock is very concerned about the division that exists in our country, and he said that Lincoln understood there are moments in a civilization where principles will compete for the heart and soul of the nation.
“And now the contest is between two antithetical principles, freedom and socialism,” he said. “You see failing schools. You see bitter racial strife. You see chronic shortages and basic necessities like electricity and water and gasoline and housing and sky-high prices to boot. Ultimately, you see failing businesses and fleeing families. That’s what California is now experiencing.
“The exodus from Democratic to Republican states is unprecedented. California is expected to lose five congressional seats and five electoral votes. Texas is likely to pick them up just because of the population shifts that are now occurring.”
McClintock also mentioned deportation that would cause the population decrease. Just during the Biden administration, at least 10 million illegals were allowed into this country.
McClintock has campaigned all over the district. Because he has served for the past 18 years, he knows the district well. He knows the people and where to visit on his campaign trail.
He moved to California as a child, and he noted the difference in what California is today compared to what he remembered as a child.
“The California that I remember from my youth and the California today are literally heaven and hell. My family moved to a little suburb north of Los Angeles in 1965. This really was a land of opportunity. My dad had been unemployed for a couple years in New York, came out to California in desperation, and immediately found a good job. My folks bought on a modest income, the home of their dreams. It was a 2,500-square-foot ranch-style home with a half-acre landscaped and a 40-foot swimming pool in the backyard. They paid for that home $35,000. That’s about $378,000 in today’s money.”
When asked to comment on the High-Speed Rail, he said, “I led the opposition of the high-speed rail in the state legislature many years ago. Jim Costa, by the way, was the principal advocate for that. He never has gotten the credit he deserves for the high-speed rail in California, because he was the major sponsor of that legislation.
“I did the research recently. Since 1980, we’ve had a 75 percent increase in registered motor vehicles in California. We’ve seen a nine percent increase in freeway lanes. What we’ve already spent for the high-speed rail, forget what we’re going to spend, it continues. Just what we’ve already spent would have been enough to add 2,000 miles of new freeway lanes on rural corridors like 99 and 5 or about 320 miles of freeway lanes on the densest urban sections of the country like the 405 in Los Angeles.
“That’s what we’ve already sacrificed to this lunacy, and they’re now telling us that the total build-out is going to cost about 10 times more than we’ve already spent,” he said. “So just add a zero to those figures, and that’s what we will have sacrificed. If they get their way, all to get a train that will take you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours longer than it takes to fly there.”
When asked about Prop 39, he said. “It’s simple common sense; 167 countries around the world require a photo ID to vote. We require photo ID to board a plane, to cash a check, to get free admission to the Obama Presidential Library. But for some reason, the Democrats are opposed to requiring a photo ID to cast a vote that determines the future of our country. I find that ludicrous. Every country in Africa requires photo ID to vote. Mexico requires photo ID to vote. Many other states have photo ID.”
His focus in office is his three committee assignments: natural resources, basic fire and water, and budget.
“I’ve been very proud over the years to be rated the best vote in Congress, or at least one of the best votes, by groups such as the Citizens Against Government Waste, and National Taxpayers Union. That’s because of my work on the Budget Committee. I also sit on Judiciary and chair of the Immigration Subcommittee.
“So that’s my focus. Those are the issues that I most concentrate on. But the ultimate overriding issue, and I put this to a recent group. I asked, ‘Does anyone in his right mind actually believe that opening our borders to tens of millions of unvetted illegals is somehow going to make your life, your family’s life, safer and more secure? Does anybody in his right mind actually believe that higher taxes and more regulations are going to make your life more affordable or more comfortable? And does anybody in his right mind actually believe that socialism is going to work any better here?”