California Gov. Gavin Newsom has set the special election to serve out the remaining term of the late Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa for Aug. 4, the latest date possible under state law.  

The Democratic governor’s decision, announced via a proclamation issued Friday, will further complicate matters for House Republicans, already grappling with a slim majority. LaMalfa, a seventh-term Republican from Northern California known for his focus on agriculture and forestry policies, died on Jan. 6 at age 65. 

His unexpected death, along with the resignation of Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene earlier this month, shrunk House Republicans’ majority to 218-213. But GOP leaders are also contending with a handful of no-shows, which is testing their ability to advance their agenda in the narrowly divided chamber. 

Still, there’s a possibility the seat could be filled earlier. The Sacramento Bee reported that an August special election would necessitate a June 2 primary. And under California law, a candidate could win outright by winning the primary with more than 50 percent of the vote, according to the campaign of Republican state assemblyman James Gallagher, who is running for LaMalfa’s seat.  

North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, the head of House Republicans’ campaign arm, slammed the extended wait for the special election as a “blatant waste of taxpayer dollars and a disservice” to the voters of California’s 1st District. 

“Californians deserve a voice in Congress, and Newsom is denying them one for purely political reasons,” the National Republican Congressional Committee chair said in a statement. 

But the move by Newsom — who has seen his national profile grow as a potential 2028 presidential contender — mirrors a similar approach taken by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last year. The Republican governor scheduled the special election to fill the seat of the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner for November, eight months after his March 2025 death.

Turner’s seat remains vacant as no candidate took a majority in last fall’s first round, and a Jan. 31 all-Democratic runoff will determine his successor. That will contract Speaker Mike Johnson’s razor-thin margin even further.

The special election for LaMalfa’s largely rural 1st District will take place under its current boundaries, which stretch from the northern suburbs of Sacramento to the Oregon and Nevada state lines. 

The regular primary for the district, also scheduled for June 2, will be held under its new configuration.

The 1st District was among several in California that were reshaped last year under a Democrat-drawn map that Golden State voters approved via a ballot measure in response to mid-decade redistricting in GOP-led Texas. Under the new lines, the 1st District now extends south along the Pacific Coast into blue-leaning wine country, transforming from a Solid Republican seat that Trump carried by 25 points in 2024 to one that Kamala Harris would have taken by 12 points, according to Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. 

Gallagher announced earlier this week that he would run in the special election to succeed LaMalfa, whom he called a mentor and friend. He already has the support of LaMalfa’s widow, Jill LaMalfa, and all eight House Republicans in the California delegation. 

“There is no one more qualified to fill that role than James Gallagher, who will without a doubt continue Doug’s legacy as an unrelenting advocate for rural California,” the California Republican lawmakers said in a statement. 

Gallagher’s campaign told Sacramento’s Fox40 that he hadn’t decided on whether to run for a full term in November. The regular election has already drawn a number of Democrats, including former state Senate leader Mike McGuire and educator Audrey Denney, who lost to LaMalfa in 2018 and 2020. 

Denney said on social media Friday that she would also run in the special election.

There are currently four vacancies in the House, two for each party. Besides the upcoming special elections for LaMalfa’s and Turner’s seats, voters in New Jersey’s 11th District will pick a successor to Democratic Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill on April 16. A special election for Greene’s seat in Georgia will be held on March 10.