California Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s unexpected death has left House Speaker Mike Johnson with a Republican majority of just 218 seats, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California should keep it that way for as long as possible.
California law says Newsom must call for a special election within 14 calendar days of LaMalfa’s passing. After that call, the election must be held between 126 and 140 days later. And if Newsom draws things out, as he should, he could keep the seat empty until the state’s June 2 primaries.
Pushing the special election as late as he can under that law would only be fair. Republican governors have been doing it to Democrats for years.
For example, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been keeping a safe Democratic House seat vacant for most of a year, depriving hundreds of thousands of Houston-area residents of representation just to give Johnson more breathing room with his extremely thin majority.
Texas Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner died March 5, 2025, at the age of 70, following a battle with bone cancer. Yet, rather than call a timely special election, Abbott instead scheduled the contest for Nov. 4, 2025—over 240 days later—with a runoff to occur on Jan. 31.
By the time the runoff is settled, the voters in Turner’s district will have been without representation for over 330 days.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, shown in February 2025.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did something similar in 2021.
When then-Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings died on April 6, 2021, from pancreatic cancer, his vacancy narrowed Democrats' majority. Rather than calling a hasty special election to replace Hastings, DeSantis set the contest for Jan. 11, 2022—280 days later.
And who can forget House Speaker Mike Johnson's corrupt move of refusing to seat Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva for seven weeks? He did that to keep her from being the final signature on a discharge petition to force a vote to release the government’s files on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
As things stand in California, LaMalfa's 1st District seat is safely Republican. President Donald Trump carried it in in 2024 by 25 percentage points, which would hold for the GOP even with the massive swings seen in recent special elections.
And the district’s existing lines will be used in the special election, despite that California voters passed Proposition 50 this past November, suspending the state's independent redistricting commission to allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw the state's congressional map.
Nevertheless, if a Republican wins the special election as expected, that lawmaker’s time in office should be short. In accordance with Proposition 50, LaMalfa's seat is set to morph into a relatively safe Democratic seat, one Democratic nominee Kamala Harris would’ve won by more than 12 points in 2024.
Ultimately, Newsom has played hardball once already, successfully passing Proposition 50. His effort, if it survives the courts, should allow Democrats to negate the corrupt gerrymandering Abbott started in Texas at Trump's behest. Proposition 50 could single-handedly ensure Republicans lose their majority after the 2026 midterms.
Now, Newsom can continue to give Republicans a taste of their own medicine by playing hardball with a House special election. He should do it.
