Rep. Doug LaMalfa has died, House Republican leadership announced Tuesday morning. The California lawmaker was 65.
LaMalfa, one of only nine Republican lawmakers from his home state, had served in the House since 2013, representing a conservative farming district in the northernmost part of California. His unexpected death narrows the Republicans’ majority in the House to 218 seats, the minimum number needed to achieve a simple majority.
The cause of his death was unclear. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America. Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children,” Republican Whip Rep. Tom Emmer wrote on X.
LaMalfa’s California district, formerly a safe Republican seat, was redrawn ahead of the midterm elections by Democratic California officials in a move approved by California voters in November, a direct response to President Donald Trump’s midyear redistricting efforts in Texas.
LaMalfa, a fourth-generation rice farmer, was a conservative Republican who often spoke candidly to reporters.
“Doug was a principled conservative and a tireless advocate for the people of Northern California. He was never afraid to fight for rural communities,” Rep. Richard Hudson,who served with LaMalfa in the House Committee on Agriculture, wrote in a statement.
LaMalfa’s death marks the latest narrowing in Speaker Mike Johnson’s Republican conference. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned Monday. Other House Republicans are also considering retiring from a Congress increasingly considered toxic by senior lawmakers.
LaMalfa would often speak on the House floor to advocate for rolling back environmental regulations in California to secure better water access for farmers in his district.
LaMalfa was known for staying on the House floor after presidential addresses to speak with presidents of both parties. Last year, during Trump’s first address to Congress in his second term, he pulled the president aside to ask for his help with “a water deal,” he told NOTUS at the time.
“He was great on water. ‘Release the water,’ he would scream out. And a true defender of American children, he was a defender of everybody. And our hearts go out to his wife, Jill, and his entire family. You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Kennedy Center.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS — a publication from the nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute — and NEWSWELL, home of Times of San Diego, Santa Barbara News-Press and Stocktonia.
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