Heath Flora

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Heath Flora
Official portrait, 2020
Minority Leader of the California Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 16, 2025
Preceded byJames Gallagher
Member of the California State Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2016
Preceded byKristin Olsen
Constituency12th district (2016–2022)
9th district (2022–present)
Personal details
BornHeath Hubert Flora
(1983-07-19) July 19, 1983 (age 42)
Stanislaus County, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Melodie Flora
​
(divorced)​
Children2
EducationModesto Junior College (AA)
WebsiteState Assembly website

Heath Hubert Flora[1] (born July 19, 1983) is an American politician in the California State Assembly. He represents the northern San Joaquin Valley, including the cities of Manteca and Lodi. As of September 16, 2025, Flora has served as the Minority Leader of the California State Assembly after being elected by the Assembly Republican Caucus on June 9, 2025.[2][3]

Early life

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On July 19, 1983, Flora was born in Stanislaus County, California.[4]

Career

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Flora served for over 15 years as a volunteer fire fighter.[5] From 2005 to 2007, Flora was a firefighter with the California Department Forestry and Fire Protection.[6] Flora is a businessman and owner of Golden Valley Equipment.[6]

In 2016, Flora's political career began when he ran for the California State Assembly to succeed fellow Republican Kristen Olsen, who ran successfully for the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. In a surprise, he won the election and became a Republican member of California State Assembly for District 12, encompassing part of the San Joaquin Valley. Flora defeated Ken Vogel, a former San Joaquin County Supervisor, with 52.2% of the votes in an upset.[6][7][8]

On November 6, 2018, as an incumbent, Flora won the election and continued serving District 12. Flora defeated Robert D. Chase with 60% of the votes.[9][10]

In Flora's first term as a member of the Assembly, Flora authored seven bills that were ultimately signed into law,[11] including bills to develop a firefighter pre-apprenticeship program[12] and to reduce the impact of property taxes on new construction.[13]

In 2020, Flora was reelected with 67% over Lathrop City Councilman Paul Akinjo.

In November 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Heath Flora travelled to Hawaii to attend a conference with 120 other people.[14]

In July 2025, the Assembly Republican caucus voted unanimously to make Flora the next Republican leader, succeeding term-limited minority leader James Gallagher when he resigns on September 16, 2025.[15]

Electoral history

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2016 California State Assembly 12th district election[16][17]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ken Vogel 23,678 25.6
Republican Heath Flora 21,484 23.2
Democratic Virginia Madueno 19,764 21.4
Democratic Harinder Grewal 17,245 18.6
Republican Cindy Marks 10,397 11.2
Total votes 92,568 100.0
General election
Republican Heath Flora 81,680 52.3
Republican Ken Vogel 74,433 47.7
Total votes 156,113 100.0
Republican hold
2018 California State Assembly 12th district election[18][19]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 56,212 63.9
Democratic Robert D. Chase 31,811 36.1
Total votes 88,023 100.0
General election
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 94,404 60.0
Democratic Robert D. Chase 62,811 40.0
Total votes 157,215 100.0
Republican hold
2020 California State Assembly 12th district election[20][21]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 71,098 62.9
Democratic Paul Akinjo 41,859 37.1
Total votes 112,957 100.0
General election
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 131,625 60.9
Democratic Paul Akinjo 84,373 39.1
Total votes 215,998 100.0
Republican hold
2022 California State Assembly 9th district election[22][23]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 65,647 99.8
Democratic Mushtaq A. Tahirkheli (write-in) 142 0.2
Total votes 65,789 100.0
General election
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 96,990 69.2
Democratic Mushtaq A. Tahirkheli 43,109 30.8
Total votes 140,099 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic
2024 California State Assembly 9th district election[24][25]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 65,952 73.2
American Independent Tami Nobriga 21,946 24.4
Democratic Rosella Rowlison (write-in) 2,139 2.4
Democratic Belinda Smith (write-in) 87 0.1
Total votes 90,124 100.0
General election
Republican Heath Flora (incumbent) 129,268 70.1
American Independent Tami Nobriga 55,169 29.9
Total votes 184,437 100.0
Republican hold

Personal life

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Flora has two children. In 2015, Flora and his family moved from Modesto to Ripon, California, where he no longer lives.[6][7][26] Flora’s wife, Melodie, filed for divorce in April 2022 in San Joaquin County Superior Court.[27]

In July 2022, a woman named Emily Hughes claimed that Flora had multiple extra-marital affairs, one of which was with her.[28] Hughes' affair with Flora took place while Hughes worked as a lobbyist for the California Medical Association and Flora was serving on the Assembly Health Committee which deals with issues of interest to the California Medical Association. In August 2022, Flora promised to issue a formal statement about the affair, but has yet to issue a statement as of a week after the promise.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "JoinCalifornia - Heath Flora".
  2. ^ Diego, Debbie L. Sklar • Times of San (July 9, 2025). "Assembly Republicans elect Heath Flora new leader in unanimous vote". Times of San Diego. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  3. ^ Wolffe, Kate (July 9, 2025). "Central Valley lawmaker will be next leader of Republicans in CA Assembly". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  4. ^ "Heath Flora". joincalifornia.com. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Heath Flora". heathflora.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d "Heath Flora". votesmart.org. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Henterly, Emma Franklin (November 8, 2016). "Galgiani, Eggman and Flora win seats". recordnet.com. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "November 8, 2016 General Election". joincalifornia.com. November 8, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "November 6, 2018 General Election". joincalifornia.com. November 6, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Martin, Angelina (December 24, 2018). "Flora's second term to focus on community funding". turlockjournal.com. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  11. ^ "Bills Introduced by Asm. Flora". ca.gov.
  12. ^ "AB 579, 2017". ca.gov.
  13. ^ "AB 652, 2017". ca.gov.
  14. ^ "California lawmakers' Maui getaway: Here's who is there". November 23, 2020.
  15. ^ Gligich, Daniel (July 8, 2025). "Heath Flora elected to lead Assembly Republicans". The San Joaquin Valley Sun. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  16. ^ "June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  17. ^ "November 8, 2016, General Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  18. ^ "June 5, 2018, Statewide Direct Primary Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  19. ^ "November 6, 2018, General Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  20. ^ "March 3, 2020, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  21. ^ "November 3, 2020, General Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  22. ^ "Primary Election - Statement of the Vote, June 7, 2022" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  23. ^ "General Election - Statement of the Vote, November 8, 2022 - State Assembly" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  24. ^ "March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  25. ^ "November 5, 2024, General Election - State Assemblymember" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  26. ^ Stapley, Garth (October 15, 2016). "Assembly campaign choice: Tried and true, or fresh and new". modbee.com. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  27. ^ a b Carlson, Ken (August 12, 2022). "California lawmaker faces scandal after lobbyist tweets about alleged affair". Sacramento Bee.
  28. ^ Stone, Reid (July 12, 2022). "Sacramento lobbyist alleges Valley lawmaker engaged in multiple extramarital affairs". San Joaquin Valley Sun.
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California Assembly
Preceded by Minority Leader of the California Assembly
2025–present 		Incumbent