Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a Republican who represented a vast swath of rural Northern California in the U.S. House of Representatives, died while undergoing emergency surgery Monday evening, authorities said. He was 65.
A fourth-generation rice farmer from Richvale, a town of about 300 people west of Oroville, LaMalfa held his seat for 13 years. He easily won reelection year after year — in 2024, he beat his Democratic opponent by 30 percentage points — but his was one of several Republican-held seats imperiled this fall when voters passed Proposition 50, which redraws the state’s congressional districts.
LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.
“Doug was a devoted husband, a dedicated father to four beautiful children, and a newfound grandfather,” Inland Empire Rep. Ken Calvert said in a statement. “Throughout his political career, Doug was a longtime Reagan conservative who believed in limited government, low taxes and traditional values.”
Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.
LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural.
There, a conservative spirit reigns in opposition to California’s famously liberal ethos. Residents have long said they felt underrepresented in the halls of power in Sacramento and Washington and have, for nearly a century, talked seriously about seceding to form their own state called Jefferson.
LaMalfa, a staunch Trump supporter, put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.
One of LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.
In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor for the vote on reauthorization in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’ inability to pass even a popular bill like that.
The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”
In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”
LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement Tuesday called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”
“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.
Flags at the Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.
Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.
“He was the leader of the Western caucus — a fierce champion on California water issues,” Trump said. “He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”
“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.
A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and earned an agribusiness degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the state Senate from 2010 to 2012. He was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
In 2025, LaMalfa was elected chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affecting rural areas.
LaMalfa’s death will have an immediate impact on Republican efforts in the closely divided Congress, which has until Jan. 30 to authorize federal funding or else face another government shutdown. The Trump administration also is pushing for congressional action to address the expiration of expanded healthcare tax credits that resulted in premiums, on average, doubling in price for enrollees.
Adding to the GOP’s troubles, Rep. James Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious.
While Baird is said to be stable, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error effectively down to zero.