California Assemblyman James Gallagher, a Republican, won a special election on Tuesday to serve the remainder of late Congressman Doug LaMalfa’s House term.

Gallagher easily secured enough votes in Tuesday’s election to avoid a runoff.

More from the New York Post:

With a little more than half the expected vote tallied in the far northern California 1st Congressional District, Gallagher had 62.6% support, well above the 50% needed to avoid an August runoff. Democratic State Sen. Mike McGuire led fellow Democrat Audrey Denney by just 37 votes in the race for second place, with both on 17.9% of the vote.

LaMalfa (R-Calif.), who had represented the safe Republican district since 2013, died on Jan. 6 of this year after suffering a heart attack following an aortic dissection. He was 65.

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“It’s a mix of emotions,” Gallagher told KRCR-TV after the race was called by the Associated Press. “Missing Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who is a mentor to me, but also just feeling overwhelmed by the amount of support that we’ve had tonight.”

Gallagher, 45, has represented the rural region north of Sacramento in the State Assembly since December 2014.

Gallagher’s victory gives House Republicans some relief with its razor-thin majority.

His win brings the House count to 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and one independent, with four vacancies.

The Hill shared further:

Gallagher said his victory showed that voters chose him, as they did LaMalfa, to “be a voice and champion for our North State communities.”

“In November, we will be running in a new District, drawn not by an independent citizens commission, but in a backroom by my opponent Mike McGuire and other Sacramento politicians,” he said in a statement shared on social media. “The results tonight indicate that we will do well, as voters are fed up with Gavin Newsom and his chief Lieutenant Mike McGuire, whose policies have made California unaffordable and unsafe for too many families.”

The district, redrawn after the state passed Proposition 50 last November, is seen by the Cook Political Report as solid blue and could provide Gallagher with an uphill challenge against McGuire this November. The district acquired the more liberal city of Santa Rosa, as well as parts of Sonoma County.

“Today, the people of Northern California reminded us what democracy looks like,” McGuire wrote on the social platform X. “Neighbors showed up. Volunteers stepped up. Voters made their voices heard. When good people come together, they can accomplish extraordinary things — and today we’re on the road to take America back.”

 

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