Heath FloraIncumbent
Candidate for Assembly District 9
Heath Flora is the Republican incumbent for California State Assembly District 9. It covers Lodi, Manteca, and other San Joaquin Valley and foothill towns. That spans San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sacramento, Amador, and Calaveras counties. Flora, born July 19, 1983, grew up in Stanislaus County. He has spent his career as a farmer and small businessman. He owns Golden Valley Equipment, a used farm equipment firm. He also works with a firm that builds nut-harvesting and firefighting gear. He served as a seasonal firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. That agency is known as Cal Fire. He served there around 2005 to 2007. He has volunteered as a firefighter for more than 15 years. Flora was first elected to the Assembly in 2016, in the old District 12. He beat Ken Vogel. He was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. Then district lines shifted him to Assembly District 9. He has held it since 2022. In 2025 his fellow Republicans made him Minority Leader. He took that role in September 2025, after James Gallagher. He now serves as vice-chair of Budget. He is also vice-chair of Business and Professions, and Labor and Employment. He also sits on Health, Natural Resources, and Rules, among other panels. In the 2026 cycle he seeks a sixth Assembly term. Local reports say he faces his largest field of primary foes yet. Age: 43, born July 19, 1983. Home: Modesto and Ripon area, Stanislaus County, California. Occupation: Farmer. He owns Golden Valley Equipment, a used farm equipment firm. He is tied to a firm making nut-harvesting and firefighting gear. Prior office: Incumbent. First elected to the Assembly in 2016, District 12. He has held District 9 since 2022. He has been Assembly Republican Minority Leader since September 2025.
On the issues
- Economy & Jobs
Supports lighter business regulation and has been endorsed by small-business advocacy groups, but has not publicly detailed a minimum-wage or labor position.
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Emphasizes reducing state government waste and inefficiency as his approach to affordability and spending, and authored a bill reducing property tax on new construction.
Source → - Public Safety & Policing
Has received financial support from law enforcement organizations and has not taken public positions favoring police reform or oversight measures found in this research.
Source → - Criminal Justice & Courts
Supports tougher sentencing and opposes reduced sentences/early release; endorsed Proposition 36 (2024), which increased penalties for certain drug and theft offenses and rolled back parts of Proposition 47.
Source → - Health & Health Care
Has authored legislation aimed at expanding rural health care access, specifically anesthesia care capacity in the Central Valley.
Source → - Family & Social Services
Authored a bill establishing a firefighter pre-apprenticeship program, and has pushed to raise pay for state wildland (CalFire) firefighters, framed partly as workforce/compensation policy for public-safety workers.
Source → - Environment, Energy & Climate
Has a strongly pro-fossil-fuel, anti-environmental-regulation voting record, opposing several climate and pollution bills while receiving oil-industry campaign contributions.
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
As Assembly Republican Minority Leader, discussed the 2025 passage of Proposition 50 (a mid-decade congressional redistricting measure) in a televised interview, though his specific substantive position on the measure was not captured in available source excerpts.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.