California Gov. Gavin Newsom has chosen to be particularly oleaginous in choosing a date for the special election to fill the District 1 seat left vacant after the unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa. With the retirement of GA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-14), House Speaker Mike Johnson's (LA-04) tiny Republican majority shrunk even further. After LaMalfa's death, that GOP majority is now razor-thin.
Gov. Gavin Newsom not doing any favors for Speaker Mike Johnson & GOP-led House.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) January 16, 2026
He calls August 4 special election to fill Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s seat for rest of his term (ending at the end of 2026)—waiting until the last possible day to hold the election under state law. pic.twitter.com/qYWdWmk7E0
A primary for the special election is scheduled to occur on June 2, coinciding with the statewide primary for the November midterm election. If no individual candidate secures more than 50% of the vote for the congressional seat, then the special general election will proceed in August.
That would allow the razor-thin margin between Republicans and Democrats in the House to continue well into the summer. The date Newsom picked for the special election was the last possible day he could choose under state law.
As RedState reported, Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-CA03) plans to run to fill the District 1 seat. California law required that the governor set a date for a special election within 14 days, with the special election required to be within 126–140 days after making the call. So, Newsom deliberately chose to monkey around and slow roll this process.
California's pattern of taking forever to count ballots is legendary. If Gallagher wins and it is announced weeks later, or even sometime in September, that leaves less than four months for him to make any difference in terms of GOP legislative priorities. With the 2026 midterm elections sucking most of the oxygen out of the fall legislative session, Gallagher's short presence in D.C. would make little difference.
Gallagher is rightly perturbed.
The Governor could have called this Election for June 2nd with the Primary on March 31. Instead he chose to play national political games and deny the people of the First District representation in Congress for at least two months longer than what was needed.
— James Gallagher (@J_GallagherAD3) January 16, 2026
You know this wasn't Newsom's idea. Hair Gel may be slick, but he's not especially bright. Either Pelosi (Nancy or Christine) whispered in his greasy ear about how he could best slow roll the election while giving the shiv to Speaker Johnson and Gallagher, who - as a Republican Assembly leader - has been a fierce critic of Newsom.
Once again, we also have Texas living rent-free in Newsom's head. When Democrat Rep. Sylvester Turner (TX-18) passed away suddenly on March 5, 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) decided to call a special election for November 5, 2025, eight months later. However, Texas law gives Abbott full discretion on when he chooses to call special elections. California law has constrained Newsom into calling the special election by a certain date; this probably chaps his hide, but he made his best effort to pretend to be kingmaker and push to the limit of the law.
There is a positive aspect to this. District 1 as it is currently constituted is ruby red, with little to no love lost between the constituents and the governor. With widow Jill LaMalfa's blessing on his filling the seat, Gallagher is a veritable shoe-in to take at least 50 percent (if not more) of the vote in the June 2 primary. If this happens, it would make a special election moot.
KCRA California correspondent Ashley Zavala surmised this exact scenario.
The primary for this election is June 2nd.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) January 16, 2026
If Republicans coalesce around one candidate that can get 50% of the vote +1, then August 4 won’t be necessary.
Asm. James Gallagher has already locked up CA’s GOP House delegation. Have yet to see anyone else jump in.
This is not a good look for Newsom's 2028 presidential aspirations. Gavin Two-Face overrides Gavin-for-the-People by a mile, and this latest stunt only puts a bigger spotlight on his abysmal record of governance. Between the lawsuits lodged against California cities and citizens who refuse to back his progressive agenda, his refusal to fund Prop. 36, or his consistent trampling of established law — the ram-through of Prop. 50 being the most recent example — this is just piles on to the series of fails, missteps, and entitled behavior that could come back to bite him when he tries to bumble his way into the 2028 Democrat primary.
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