District 1’s congressman, 65-year-old rice farmer Doug LaMalfa, died early today after suffering an aneurysm and heart attack, according to media reports.
The Richvale Republican was serving his seventh term in the House in a district that has a conservative voter majority and includes rural North State counties like Butte, Yuba, Shasta and Siskiyou. LaMalfa had served on the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Transportation committees and was a steadfast Trump loyalist.
LaMalfa was controversial in Chico with an electorate that is more politically-divided than it is elsewhere in the district, and at his first Chico town hall in eight years in August of last year, was heckled when he defended the Trump Administration’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
LaMalfa introduced H.R. 4970, the legislation that has exempted wildfire survivors from federal taxes on settlement awards.
LaMalfa declined to censure the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and when Congress voted to certify the 2020 presidential election, LaMalfa voted with Republicans who objected to Arizona’s vote count, a challenge that failed in both houses of Congress. (Later, audits of that count increased Joe Biden’s margin of victory.)
LaMalfa has represented District 1 since 2013, and previously served in the California State Assembly and Senate. On Jan. 3, he praised the military assault on Caracas.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin issued a statement early today, saying the conservative congressman had “served Northern California with steady grit, a great sense of humor, and a genuine love for the people he represented.”
Politico reports that Gov. Gavin Newsom has 14 days to set a date for a special election, or can choose to schedule it to coincide with the state’s June 2 primary.
Under redrawn district lines, the congressman would have found himself in “a competitive race” for an eighth term “after years of cruising to reelection,” Politico says.
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol.
Since it is expected and since it is true I’m sorry to hear that Doug died so young and how shocking it must be for those who cared for him. Progressives were set to win in this next election anyway so there is nothing to celebrate. I will be grateful for representation when it comes. LaMalfa had a terrible voting record and was lock step with MAGA. His legacy as an advocate for big ag and timber and against the majority of his constituents is something that is finalized now. I think the voters will finally reject the good old boy faux, “one of us” backwardness. Time will tell the harms his life as a republican tool will bring.
Again, I mean no disrespect for those who found something in him most of us never did. Peace and comfort to them.
Well said Chris.