But questions remain about who will challenge Gallagher in the August special election.
Gallagher, a farmer and attorney from Sutter County, said he chose to run largely because of his relationship with the late congressman.
“Doug LaMalfa gave me my first job in politics,” he said. “He was a mentor, he was a friend. Somebody that I always felt like was right there with me in this political life. To lose him is a big hit, it's a big loss.”
Gallagher also received support from LaMalfa's family, including his wife, Jill.
Governor Gavin Newsom set the special election date to August 4 — the latest possible time.
A June primary will be held for the special election using the district’s current congressional map. If Gallagher or another candidate receives over half of the votes, they'll automatically be elected.
However, the midterm election will use newly drawn maps that skew the district in favor of Democrats, as a result of Proposition 50.
Gallagher said he's not sure if he'll run in the midterms because the new maps give Democrats a strong advantage.
“What I've announced and what I'm doing is uniting the north and running for the existing district,” he said. “The new maps quite frankly are rigged. They were very vocal, they weren't discreet about the fact that they rigged them so that a Democrat could win.”
Gallagher questioned whether a Democrat could represent the district's largely rural and agricultural community, noting that Democratic policies typically add costs and burdens to farmers.
If he wins the special election, Gallagher would represent the district until next January under its current boundaries.
Democratic State Senator Mike McGuire is running in the midterm election under the new maps, which he helped create. He said he's capable of representing rural communities because he’s already doing so.
“I'm the first rural Democratic leader in the California State Senate in over a century and I've dedicated my life to keeping rural hospitals open, to expanding broadband to rural communities, expanding child care slots in rural communities,” he said.
McGuire noted that the Senate district he represents — which includes Sonoma and Humboldt County — is largely rural.
He also lambasted Gallagher for his record, including voting against every minimum wage hike in the state and his support of Trump administration policies on healthcare.
“James Gallagher, Republicans and Donald Trump has made life more expensive for all of us through the tariff taxes,” he added. “He's attacking California's agricultural industry with these tariff taxes — nut farmers, wine growers, vegetable and produce growers.”
McGuire said he has not decided whether he will run for the special election against Gallagher. Some experts have said the best case scenario for Democrats would be no candidates getting 50% of the vote in the primary because it would keep one vote away from House Republicans, who have a dwindling majority, for even longer.
Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant, said McGuire running would be a bad idea.
“I think a far better political move is to let that seat go, let Mr. Gallagher win by 50% plus one, and then have the real battle under the new lines and proceed from there where Mr. McGuire is very much likely to win that election,” he said. “The math and the partisanship in Washington D.C. is so rigid that we're not seeing a moderate middle be determinative. Even if Mike Johnson has a majority of one or two votes, which may be the case, it's still a majority.”