Assemblymember James Gallagher has won the special election to fill the vacant California Congressional District 1 seat — but his campaign is far from over as the November midterms are around the corner.
As he steps into his new position as a representative on Capitol Hill, he will be campaigning to keep his seat in the November general election, where he will go up against Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) for the 2027-29 term in a district that was redrawn by the passage of Proposition 50 in November.
“People may disagree with me on certain issues — that’s fine,” Gallagher said in a phone interview with ChicoSol. “I hope what people can see is [that] I’m someone who really looks out for our people.”
Gallagher (R-East Nicolaus) assumed office in the state assembly in December 2014. He was ineligible to run again in this election cycle because he reached California’s 12-year term limit. During his time in office he served as the minority leader from 2022-25.
Gallagher will take the seat of the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) who passed away in early January and had served in the House since 2013. The seat of California’s 1st Congressional district has remained vacant since.
Gallagher secured about 53% of Butte County’s nearly 37,000 votes, according to June 4 preliminary results. This was reflective district wide; Gallagher secured about 62% of the votes and was followed by Audrey Denney (18.4%), who has been holding a narrow lead over Sonoma County’s McGuire (18%).
As Gallagher serves out LaMalfa’s term, he said he intends to continue the work LaMalfa began to reopen Glenn Medical Center, increase infrastructure and water capacity at Sites Reservoir and tackle what he sees as waste and fraud in the federal government.
“Those are dollars that we desperately need in our community, which desperately needs access to healthcare and other crucial services,” Gallagher said.
“The results tonight prove what we have known for many years — Doug LaMalfa was loved and respected by the people of his district,” Gallagher said on his Instagram.
The special election took place on the old district lines, and every county that was included in what was District 1 (before redistricting) backed Gallagher.
Because of redistricting, District 1 lost Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Lassen, Shasta, Modoc and Siskiyou counties.
Among the counties that District 1 has gained are Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, Plumas and Sierra counties. Sonoma County – which along with Mendocino backed McGuire – has a voting population of 314,218 people who are mostly Democrats, according to state registration reports. That is more than twice the size of Butte County’s population of registered voters, which is 126,995.
Gallagher has criticized the November redistricting, arguing that it separated counties that had similar interests. But Gallagher performed with strength in the June 2 primary even in the redrawn District 1 that extends to Sonoma County. (See story on primary election under new district lines.)
Gallagher and McGuire will advance to the November general election — a defeat most surely upsetting for Denney, a Chico resident who has run for U.S. Congress twice before.
Gallagher avoided a runoff election because he has so far received more than 50% of the votes.
All 13 voting centers have reported their received ballots, according to Buttevotes.ca.gov. Last week, Butte County Clerk-Recorder Keaton Denlay told ChicoSol that people were sending in their ballots for the special election but holding onto general election ballots.
As of election day, that gap had narrowed. Denlay attributed that to voters needing more time for the longer ballot.
Gallagher will be sworn into office at 11 a.m. on June 16 at the Historic Oroville State Theatre.