This year\u2019s midterm election already was going to be frustrating for many voters in a vast, rural swath of Northern California whose staunchly conservative district has been redrawn to favor Democrats after the passage of Proposition 50 last fall. <\/p>\n
Their longtime Republican congressman, Doug LaMalfa, a rice farmer from rural Butte County who had represented the region for 13 years, had vowed to run again in his newly configured district, despite the long odds. <\/p>\n
But LaMalfa died during emergency surgery on Jan. 5. <\/p>\n
Now, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom \u2014 a vociferous critic of President Trump who is weighing a 2028 presidential run \u2014 has chosen the latest day possible under state law for a special election to fill LaMalfa\u2019s seat for the last few months of his term. <\/p>\n
In a Jan. 16 proclamation, Newsom set the special election for Aug. 4.<\/p>\n
The victor will represent California\u2019s 1st Congressional District with its current boundaries, which stretch from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding to the Oregon border and to Alturas in the state\u2019s northeast corner. <\/p>\n
On June 2, voters will simultaneously cast ballots in the primary for the special election in the current district \u2014 and in the statewide primary for the November election for the new districts.<\/p>\n
If the winner of the special election primary gets more than 50% of the vote in the primary, he or she will win outright, serving the rest of LaMalfa\u2019s term, which ends Jan. 3, 2027. <\/p>\n
\u201cVoters will certainly be confused about the shifting district lines in two elections so close together in time,\u201d Kim Nalder, director of the Project for an Informed Electorate at Sacramento State, said in an email. <\/p>\n
She added that the special election is likely to get \u201cfairly low turnout,\u201d with those who do cast ballots being \u201cbetter informed and more partisan.\u201d <\/p>\n
LaMalfa\u2019s death put the razor-thin 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 this month. <\/p>\n
In California, several Republican-held seats, including LaMalfa\u2019s, were imperiled in the fall when voters passed Proposition 50, which temporarily redraws the state\u2019s congressional districts to favor Democrats. The proposition was a response to partisan redistricting in Republican states including Texas. <\/p>\n
State law required Newsom to announce a special election for the remainder of LaMalfa\u2019s term within 14 days of his death. The election had to be conducted within 140 days \u2014 or up to 200 days if consolidated with another election. <\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s office said that consolidating the special and state primaries was meant to reduce the risk of voter confusion since there are multiple elections with different boundaries.<\/p>\n
But Newsom\u2019s decision to leave LaMalfa\u2019s seat vacant as long as possible has infuriated California Republicans. They say Proposition 50 has already disenfranchised voters in a region that has, for nearly a century, talked seriously about seceding to form their own state called Jefferson. <\/p>\n
In a Jan. 16 letter to Newsom, the California Assembly Republican Caucus said the state\u2019s rural residents \u201calready suffer from a severe lack of meaningful representation in both Sacramento and Washington D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
They added: \u201cWhen a congressional seat representing one of the largest and most rural districts in the state is left vacant, it sends a clear message: OUR VOICES ARE NOT A PRIORITY.\u201d <\/p>\n
The lawmakers said the unfilled seat has \u201creal consequences for communities that depend on federal advocacy for wildfire recovery, water access, agriculture, healthcare, and basic infrastructure.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nalder, at Sacramento State, said it appears Newsom is \u201ccontinuing to use every tool at his disposal to enable his party to gain advantages in the House\u201d and that the governor \u201cunderstands the assignment in this new political era.\u201d <\/p>\n
Matt Rexroad, a California Republican political consultant and redistricting expert, said of Newsom\u2019s choice to set the special election for August: \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt at all that it\u2019s politically driven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did Prop. 50 to stick it to President Trump and is attempting to deny House Speaker [Mike] Johnson another Republican vote for the rest of the year,\u201d Rexroad said. \u201cAll of this is about Governor Newsom positioning himself to run for president.\u201d <\/p>\n
Assemblyman James Gallagher, a Yuba City Republican who is running to complete LaMalfa\u2019s term, has said the governor could have called the special election for June 2, with a primary on March 31. Instead, he wrote in a statement last week, the governor \u201cchose to play national political games\u201d and will deny Northern California voters representation \u201cfor at least two months longer than what was needed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gallagher announced his candidacy last week with an endorsement from LaMalfa\u2019s widow, Jill, who wrote that \u201cin the midst of our sadness and navigation of such a profound loss, I find myself very concerned about who may replace Doug as our Representative in Washington, D.C.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids and I believe this is what Doug would have wanted,\u201d she wrote of Gallagher\u2019s candidacy, adding: \u201cJames has our full support.\u201d <\/p>\n
In an interview Friday, Gallagher, the former Assembly Republican leader, said he was still reeling from the death of LaMalfa, whom he considered a mentor and close friend. <\/p>\n
Gallagher said his motto for this election is: Unite the North State. <\/p>\n
Because of Proposition 50, the current, deep-red district will be cleaved into three pieces. The northern half will be joined to a coastal district that will stretch all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, while the southern half will be chopped into two districts that will draw in voters from the Bay Area and wine country. <\/p>\n
\u201cProp. 50 was a big gut punch for us,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cA lot of people felt like their representation was getting ripped away from them for political reasons \u2014 then you lose the guy who\u2019s been your rock for many years. … It is a very difficult time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gallagher will compete in the special election against Democrat Audrey Denney, an education director who unsuccessfully challenged LaMalfa in 2018 and 2020.<\/p>\n
Denney will run in both the special election and in the election for the newly redrawn 1st Congressional District. State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state\u2019s northwest coast, is among her competitors vying to represent the new district. <\/p>\n
Gallagher told The Times on Friday that he had not decided whether he would run for a full term in a new district, \u201cbut I would say I\u2019m considering it.\u201d <\/p>\n