The 2026 California's 1st congressional district special election for in the United States House of Representatives was held on June 2, 2026, to fill the vacancy created by the death of incumbent Republican U.S. representative Doug LaMalfa. A runoff between the top two candidates would have been held on August 4 if no candidate received a majority of the vote.

Although the election occurred after the passage of Proposition 50 in 2025, the proposition did not impact this election because the proposed map goes into effect for the term that begins on January 3, 2027, as the special election was for the term that expires on that date.

Republican state assemblyman James Gallagher won the election in this heavily red district by securing 62.10% of the total votes and defeating Democratic candidates Audrey Denney and Mike McGuire by a massive margin. The special election also coincided with the primary election for the new district boundaries, in which Gallagher and McGuire both advanced, setting up a rematch in the November general election.

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 be more Democratic-leaning, 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 to 42.3. Doug LaMalfa intended to seek reelection to the 1st district despite the new map before his death.

The congressional map drawn by Proposition 50 became official following the state's primary on June 2. As the primary for the special election was also held on June 2, the general special election used the current map drawn by the CCRC. A run-off for the general special election would have occurred on August 4 if no candidate received a majority of votes in the primary. Although most special elections use old district lines before a redistricting cycle, some previous elections have used newly drawn maps, including a special election for Nebraska's 1st district in 2022.

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 four vacancies at the time. News organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and Politico, noted that this narrow margin provided additional strain on the Republican majority and Speaker Mike Johnson, as the Republicans could only lose two votes, placing increased prominence on the special election.

Candidates Declared Audrey Denney (Democratic), nonprofit consultant and food security activist; runner-up for this seat in 2018 and 2020 James Gallagher (Republican), former Minority Leader of the California Assembly (2022–2025) from the 3rd district (2014–2026) Mike McGuire (Democratic), former president pro tempore of the California State Senate (2024–2025) from the 2nd district (2014–present) Richard Montgomery (Independent), retired nurse Jot Thiara (Republican), businessman

Withdrawn Kyle Wilson (Democratic), labor attorney

Endorsements

Results

By county County James GallagherRepublican Audrey DenneyDemocratic Mike McGuireDemocratic Other candidatesVarious parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % Butte32,090 52.84% 15,461 25.46% 12,648 20.83% 526 0.87% 16,629 27.38% 60,725 Colusa2,861 67.97% 546 12.97% 702 16.68% 100 2.38% 2,159 51.29% 4,209 Glenn4,514 70.80% 809 12.69% 904 14.18% 149 2.34% 3,610 56.62% 6,376 Lassen5,269 73.34% 806 11.22% 748 10.41% 361 5.03% 4,463 62.12% 7,184 Modoc1,990 75.12% 343 12.95% 274 10.34% 42 1.59% 1,647 62.17% 2,649 Shasta35,434 66.61% 8,577 16.12% 8,177 15.37% 1,012 1.90% 26,857 50.48% 53,200 Siskiyou7,917 58.37% 3,700 27.28% 1,668 12.30% 278 2.05% 4,217 31.09% 13,563 Sutter14,661 65.01% 2,843 12.61% 4,168 18.48% 881 3.91% 10,493 46.53% 22,553 Tehama11,514 70.88% 1,984 12.21% 2,277 14.02% 469 2.89% 9,237 56.86% 16,244 Yuba (part)7,301 59.65% 1,772 14.48% 2,753 22.49% 413 3.37% 4,548 37.16% 12,239Totals123,55162.10%36,84118.52%34,31917.25%4,2312.13%86,71043.59%198,942

References

External links Official campaign sites Audrey Denney (D) James Gallagher (R) Mike McGuire (D)