MENDOCINO CO., 1/6/25 – U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, has died at age 65, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced Tuesday morning.
LaMalfa served as the representative for California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the northeastern part of the state, including Chico, Redding and Yuba City.
A fourth-generation rice farmer, LaMalfa served in the California State Assembly and state Senate before being elected to Congress in 2012.
According to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, LaMalfa was transported to Enloe Medical Center in Chico on Monday evening for an undisclosed medical emergency. He was undergoing emergency surgery when he died. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death.
LaMalfa’s district was a focus of Proposition 50, a statewide redistricting measure that would replace congressional maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission with new maps expected to give Democrats an advantage.
Under the proposed map, LaMalfa’s district would lose conservative strongholds such as Redding and Modoc County to the 2nd District, while gaining more Democratic-leaning areas, including Ukiah and Santa Rosa. The 2026 election was expected to be contentious, with state Senate leader Mike McGuire, D-Geyserville, considered LaMalfa’s leading challenger.
Under state and federal law, a special election will be held to replace LaMalfa. There will be no appointed or interim representative.
This article was updated to provide more details on LaMalfa’s death and the special election to replace him.
No politics in the afterlife
Unofficial update: “Action News Now spoke with a local leader and close friend of LaMalfa, who told us that the congressman suffered a local aortic aneurysm after feeling stomach pains and died during surgery. Numerous members of Congress are sharing that LaMalfa experienced a heart attack during the emergency surgery.”
I am very sorry to hear of the passing of Congressman La Malfa. I remember him and State Senator Jim Nielsen were both strong supporters of agriculture when I had a prune orchard in Tehama county.