Heath Flora, R-Ripon, will take the helm of the state’s Republican Party in the Assembly as current leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City prepares to term out in 2026.

The Republican Caucus announced Tuesday afternoon that Republican members unanimously elected the Central Valley lawmaker to take over the post. The transition will happen in September.

There are 19 Republicans in the Assembly, and their voices are often drowned out by their 60 Democratic colleagues, who hold a supermajority.

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

Flora holds a number of leadership positions in the Assembly, acting as the subchair for the committees on budget, business and professions, and labor and employment. He is also the minority floor leader for the Republicans, representing their interests on the Assembly floor.

Support from current GOP leader

Current leader Gallagher described Flora as his “right hand.”

“I know he’ll take this team to the next level,” he said in a statement.

Under Gallagher’s leadership, Caucus spokesperson George Andrews said, the group has “expanded their ranks, flipped seats once considered unwinnable, and forced overdue debates on crime, affordability and government accountability.”

Gallagher has been Republican leader since 2022 and has not said what he plans to do after he leaves the Assembly.

Flora has deep roots in Stanislaus County, and according to his website, serves in a leadership role in his family-run equipment business and is a volunteer firefighter.

He was elected to his seat in the Legislature in 2016, and is no stranger to scandal.

In November 2020, he was the subject of scrutiny for attending a conference in Hawaii amid pleas from health officials for the public to stay put to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In 2022, a former lobbyist for the California Medical Association alleged she and Flora had an extramarital affair while he was serving on the Assembly Health Committee. Ethics watchdogs pointed out the affair could have amounted to a conflict of interest for the Valley lawmaker because he was voting on bills sponsored by the association. Flora has never publicly commented on that allegation.