2026 California's 1st congressional district special election

2026 California's 1st congressional district special election

A special election for California's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives will be held on June 2, 2026 to fill the vacancy created by the death of incumbent Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa. The primary for the election will be held on June 2, coinciding with the primary of other state elections. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in this election, the general election on August 4 will occur as a runoff between the top two candidates.

Although the election will take place after the passage of Proposition 50 in 2025, the proposition does not impact this election because the proposition goes into effect for the term that begins on January 3, 2027 (the special election is for the term that expires on that date).

Background

Redistricting and scheduling

In 2025, California voters passed Proposition 50, an amendment to California's constitution that supplanted the map created by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC) with a map that favors Democratic candidates. As a result, District 1 was redrawn to favor Democrats much more, removing the Republican-leaning rural counties of Modoc and Siskiyou along with the Redding and Yuba–Sutter metropolitan areas, while adding the Democratic-leaning city of Santa Rosa. In the 2024 presidential election, the newly redrawn 1st district would have voted for Kamala Harris by a margin of 54.5–42.3. Doug LaMalfa intended to seek reelection to the 1st district despite the new map.

The congressional map drawn by Proposition 50 is set to become official following the state's primary on June 2. As the primary for the special election will also be held on June 2, the general special election will take place under the current map drawn by the CCRC. The general special election will only occur if necessary due to no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the primary. Though most special elections use old district lines before a redistricting cycle, some elections in the past have used newly drawn maps, including a special election for Nebraska's 1st district in (/wiki/2022Nebraska's1stcongressionaldistrictspecialelection).

Republican control of the House

LaMalfa died one day after the resignation of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, bringing the total Republicans in the House of Representatives to a bare majority of 218 to 213 Democrats with 4 vacancies. News agencies, including The Wall Street Journal and Politico, noted that this narrow margin puts additional strain on the Republican majority and Speaker Mike Johnson, as the Republicans can only lose two votes, placing increased prominence on the special election.

Nonpartisan blanket primary

Declared

• Audrey Denney (Democratic), consultant and runner-up for this seat in (/wiki/2018UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinCalifornia#District1) and (/wiki/2020UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinCalifornia#District1) • James Gallagher (Republican), former Minority Leader of the California Assembly (2022–2025) from the 3rd district (2014–present) • Mike McGuire (Democratic), former president pro tempore of the California State Senate (2024–2025) from the 2nd district (2014–present) • James Salegui (Democratic), investment banker • Angelita Valles (Republican), former Victorville city councilwoman and candidate for California's 8th congressional district in (/wiki/2012UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinCalifornia#District8)

Potential

• Brian Dahle (Republican), former state senator from the 1st district (2019–2024) and runner-up for governor in (/wiki/2022Californiagubernatorialelection)