Two Distinct Races for California's 1st Congressional District

The June 2 primary election for California's 1st Congressional District is marked by two separate races, following the sudden death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa in January 2026.

LaMalfa, a Butte County rice farmer known for his bipartisan connections and passion for water rights and wildfire mitigation, had held the seat since 2013. His passing, mourned by many including President Donald Trump, has complicated an already fraught election.

Due to the November 2025 passage of Proposition 50, the district has been redrawn. The current, Republican-leaning district—spanning 26,000 square miles of rural northern and northeastern California—will be replaced in 2026 by a new, Democratic-leaning district that includes Santa Rosa as its main population base, while shedding conservative Shasta, Modoc, and Siskiyou counties.

This means voters in the new district will choose a candidate for a full two-year term, while those in the old district will elect someone to serve the remainder of LaMalfa's term.

In the race for the interim seat, Republican Assembly member James Gallagher of Yuba City is the frontrunner, endorsed by Trump. If he secures over 50% of the vote on June 2, he will be seated immediately in Congress, where Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow majority makes every seat critical.

If no candidate reaches that threshold, a runoff is scheduled for August 4, a date chosen by Gov. Gavin Newsom to delay Gallagher's potential entry into Congress.

For the full-term seat in the new Democratic-leaning district, state Sen. Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, a former state Senate president who helped pass Prop.

50, is the favorite. He faces progressive Democrat Audrey Denney, a Butte County nonprofit leader who has run twice for Congress against LaMalfa.

Denney has criticized McGuire for taking a $40,000 Super Bowl trip funded by his political committee, while McGuire defends it as a successful fundraiser. Denney has also taken strong stances on Gaza and Democratic leadership, positioning herself as an outsider challenging the establishment.

Gallagher, meanwhile, has distanced himself from some Trump policies, criticizing the severity of Medicaid cuts in the Republican "Big Beautiful Bill" and supporting continued coverage for Obamacare plans. He has highlighted his bipartisan work on housing and school lunch reforms.

McGuire has focused on the impact of Trump's tariffs, claiming they have raised costs for California families by $2,400 annually, while Gallagher counters that McGuire's support for climate policies has driven up energy prices.

The election is further complicated by the fact that voters in the old and new districts will cast ballots simultaneously, with the same three leading candidates appearing on both ballots. The outcome will have immediate national implications, as Democrats aim to flip the seat blue, while Republicans seek to maintain their slim House majority.