Calif. Rep. LaMalfa dies, reducing GOP's narrow control of the House even further |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Republican Doug LaMalfa, a California rice farmer who served seven terms in the U.S. House and was a reliable vote on President Donald Trump's agenda, has died at age 65.
His death trims the Republicans’ narrow margin of control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.
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The congressman experienced a medical emergency Monday night and was taken to a local hospital, where he died during a surgical procedure, the Butte County sheriff’s office said Tuesday. Officials haven't disclosed the cause of his death.
Trump expressed “tremendous sorrow” over LaMalfa’s death as he addressed a meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, lamenting the loss of a lawmaker he championed as an ally for his agenda. He said the late congressman “wasn’t a 3 o’clock in the morning person” like other lawmakers he would call in the wee hours to lobby for their votes.
“He voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump said. “With Doug, I never had to call.”
LaMalfa, a fourth-generation rice farmer, was elected to Congress in 2012 after serving in the state Legislature. He represented California's 1st District, which covered a vast portion of the state's rural North, spanning from the Oregon border down to just north of the capital, Sacramento.
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He was a regular........