California Assemblyman James Gallagher won the special election to replace the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who died earlier this year during emergency surgery at age 65. The victory gives Republicans another vote as they hold on to a narrow majority.
Gallagher secured nearly 63% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press, avoiding a runoff in California’s 1st Congressional District, a deep-red seat.
The former Assembly minority leader will serve the remainder of LaMalfa’s unexpired term, bringing the GOP to 218 votes. Democrats currently have 212 members. There are four vacancies and one independent who caucuses with Republicans.
Gallagher also advanced to the general election for the 2026 midterm elections, in which he will face former state Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire.
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The special election was held under the 2024 lines, but Gallagher will face McGuire on unfriendly turf, and he will have a much more difficult path to reelection.
California’s 2025 Proposition 50 altered the Northern California district, transforming it from a Republican enclave into a seat that 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris would have carried by double digits.