California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP management and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.
“Jacquie and I are devastated concerning the sudden lack of our good friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” stated Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the Home majority whip, in a publish on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s spouse, Jill, and their youngsters.”
LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the previous 12 years. His seat was considered one of a number of that was in jeopardy below the state’s redrawn districts authorized by voters with Proposition 50.
Emergency personnel responded to a 911 name from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, in response to the Butte County Sheriff’s Workplace. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Middle in Chico, the place he died whereas present process emergency surgical procedure, authorities stated.
An post-mortem to find out the reason for loss of life is deliberate, in response to the sheriff’s workplace.
LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, by way of Redding on the northern finish of the Central Valley and Alturas within the state’s northeast nook — is basically rural, and constituents have lengthy stated they felt underrepresented in liberal California.
LaMalfa put a lot of his deal with boosting federal water provides to farmers, and in search of to cut back environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of different pure sources.
One LaMalfa’s closing acts within the U.S. Home was to efficiently push for the reauthorization of the Safe Rural Faculties Act, a long-standing monetary help program for colleges surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets couldn’t rely on property taxes, as most public colleges do. Regardless of broad bipartisan assist, Congress let it lapse in 2023.
In an interview with The Occasions as he was strolling onto the Home flooring in mid-December, LaMalfa stated he was pissed off with Congress’s incapacity to go even a preferred invoice like that reauthorization.
The Safe Rural Faculties Act, he stated, was a sufferer of a Congress through which “it’s nonetheless an everlasting struggle over something fiscal.” It’s “annoying,” LaMalfa stated, “how onerous it’s to get staple items carried out round right here.”
In an announcement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff stated he thought of LaMalfa “a good friend and associate” and that the congressman was “deeply dedicated to his neighborhood and constituents, working to make life higher for these he represented.”
“Doug’s life was considered one of nice service and he can be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in an announcement referred to as LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply beloved his nation, his state, and the communities he represented.”
“Whereas we frequently approached points from completely different views, he fought each day for the individuals of California with conviction and care,” Newsom stated.
Flags on the California State Capitol in Sacramento can be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, in response to the governor.
Earlier than his loss of life, LaMalfa was going through a troublesome reelection bid to carry his seat. After voters authorized Proposition 50 in November — aimed toward giving California Democrats extra seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a brand new district that closely favored his doubtless opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.
LaMalfa’s loss of life places the Republican majority in Congress in additional jeopardy, with a margin of simply two votes to safe passage of any invoice alongside get together traces after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday night.
Including to the get together’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a automobile crash described by the White Home as critical. Whereas Baird is claimed to be secure, the Republican Home speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will be unable to depend on his attendance. And he has one extra caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a behavior of voting towards the president, bringing their margin for error down successfully to zero.
President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP Home members on the Kennedy Middle, addressed the information firstly of his remarks, expressing “large sorrow on the lack of an incredible member” and stating his speech can be made in LaMalfa’s honor.
“He was the chief of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water points. He was nice on water. ‘Launch the water!’ he’d scream out. And a real defender of American youngsters.”
“You understand, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.
A local of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte School after which earned an ag-business diploma from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served within the California Meeting from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative motion in California, and he additionally pushed for passage of the Safety of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
Whereas representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa targeted largely on points affecting rural California and different western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on laws affected rural areas.
