GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa Dies, Narrowing House Majority
Lawmaker’s Death Leaves Republicans With Little Margin on Key Votes
Key Takeaways:
- Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died Jan. 5 at age 65, party leaders said, further shrinking the GOP House majority.
- His death cuts Republicans to 218 seats versus 213 Democrats amid infighting, limiting the party to two defections on party-line votes.
- A redistricted California seat becomes harder to defend in 2026, and with Rep. Jim Baird hospitalized, Republicans can lose only one vote when Democrats unite.
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Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) has died, further shrinking the narrow GOP House majority, according to party leaders.
LaMalfa's death after 13 years in Congress was announced as House Republicans headed into a party retreat at Washington’s Kennedy Center to begin a messy midterm election campaign year fractured by infighting and behind in the polls.
President Donald Trump, who said LaMalfa died Jan. 5, praised the lawmaker as a reliable ally in a speech to lawmakers at the retreat.
“He was with us all the way,” Trump said.
LaMalfa was a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and he sought to repeal the 12% federal excise tax on certain commercial vehicles.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) resigned as of this week following bitter recriminations against party leaders, and with LaMalfa’s death the GOP can now only afford two defections on any party-line vote.
Small groups of hard-line conservatives have repeatedly pressured party leaders by withholding their votes, and swing-district moderates have applied pressure recently by forcing a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies over the opposition of party leaders. That vote is expected later this week.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the party’s House campaign chairman, announced LaMalfa’s death at age 65 in a statement Jan. 6, lauding the lawmaker as “a principled conservative.”
Neither Trump nor Hudson provided information on how LaMalfa died. The lawmaker’s death shrinks the Republican House majority to 218 members to 213 Democrats.
LaMalfa’s once-safe Republican seat has been redistricted by California Democrats to make it competitive. The loss of the incumbent will make the seat even harder for the GOP to defend in the 2026 midterms.
Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.) also has been hospitalized due to a car accident, further narrowing the fragile majority for the time being, according to a statement issued by his congressional office. Baird is “expected to make a full recovery,” the statement added.
With Baird absent, Republicans can only lose one vote on party-line votes when all Democrats are present and united in opposing GOP legislation.
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