Heath Flora is taking over leadership of the Republican Party in the California Assembly in September.

The Ripon resident has served in the Assembly since 2016.  He is eligible to serve one more term after his current term ends under California term limit laws.

James Gallagher, the current Republican Assembly leader who is from East Nicolaus, terms out in 2026. Gallagher has served as the Assembly Republican Leader since 2022. 

Flora was announced Tuesday as the unanimous choice of the Republicans.

There are 19 Republicans in the Assembly.

The Republicans are at a disadvantage in the 809-member Assembly as the Democrats hold a supermajority with 50 members.

That means if almost all Democrats stand together, the party doesn’t need Republican votes to pass legislation.

 “Californians deserve a Republican Caucus that fights hard, communicates clearly, and never backs down,” Flora said in a statement after his selection was announced.  “I’m ready to lead that fight.”

Gallagher said in a statement that it was his decision to step aside and that he is proud of what Republicans have accomplished throughout his tenure. 

“Coming out of redistricting, people predicted we’d drop to 15 seats,” Gallagher said. “Instead, we battled back, picked up seats, and won big fights on issues like fentanyl, human trafficking, and Prop 36. We’ve grown the Caucus, sharpened our message, and we’re not done yet.” 

Gallagher added that Flora has been his “right hand” and that Flora will “take this team to the next level,” Gallagher said.
A life-long farmer, Heath serves as a Director for International Sales at the Exact Corporation, a family-owned business that manufactures innovative products for both nut harvesting and forcible entry equipment for firefighting

Heath also owns Golden Valley Equipment which sells used agricultural equipment.

Prior to entering the business world, Heath received training as a paramedic and worked for CAL Firef or three summers.